by Wendy Knight
"Uh, Will, what about your accident? You're supposed to stay in bed. Where you are safe." She stressed the last word at him, the pitch of her voice rising so she sounded alarmingly like Brittany.
"The doctor said I was fine as long as I take it easy. I have been. Very. Careful." He enunciated each word, nodding.
"You can't possibly know what might happen away from home," she said shrilly.
Shane's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was a whole new side to her that her friends were getting the privilege of seeing. She cleared her throat, realizing that everyone in the room was still staring at them. She hid her shaking hands behind her back. This was so dangerous. If anyone found out he was here, there would be Edren head hunters everywhere. Or Carules warriors. Either way, Will was in danger.
"So I've kind of met everyone. Can we just hang out for a while before I have to go? I can't stay long. Doctors orders," Will said, his dark eyes, so like her own, pleading with her. Let me do my duty, Ari. She could read it in his gaze.
And she relented. "Of course. I'm sorry, I just worry." She pulled him into a hug. "But I might just kill you myself," she muttered next to his ear.
He grinned as he pulled away. "So you three are from Texas you say?" he asked, sitting in an empty chair and making himself comfortable. Ari paced behind him, her eyes darting around the room, toward all the exits, looking for threats.
"No. Hunter's family is from Texas, but they moved to New Mexico when he was small and we've been friends ever since," Shane said, leaning forward so the front legs of his chair smacked the floor. On cue, the rest of the library turned back to their own affairs.
"Do you guys come from big families?" Will asked. "I mean, Ari and me, we're the only kids, but I left home a long time ago so we've both been raised as only children. It's lonely," he said.
"No, I'm an only child," Shane answered.
"Me too," Charity said, her voice soft and melodic. Ari paused in her pacing. She hadn’t known this.
"Hunter has three kids in his family. But the rest of them elected to stay home and go to regular public school. Probably so they could stay away from him," Shane answered with a sly grin when Hunter made no move to answer for himself.
Will looked at Nev and Livi, waiting. Well, at least he wasn't obvious about interrogating her Carules friends.
"I've got one brother. And Livi, of course," Nev said with an adoring smile at her tiny friend.
"You guys are related?" Will didn't even try to hide his surprise.
"No, but our moms have been friends forever. We've lived together for the last eight years." Livi went on to explain their complicated situation, and Ari watched Will covertly studying the Carules. Yes Will, they're dangerous. But not as dangerous as me.
Of course, Will didn't see her as dangerous. He saw her as his baby sister, and no matter how many people she killed, he would never see her as a monster.
"Ari, your brother is fine. The doctors said he was okay to travel. You said yourself this morning that he was okay, remember? Sit down and enjoy his visit," Charity said softly, watching Ari prowl around the library with concern.
Ari hesitated, her eyes flying across the room one last time, and then she sat stiffly on a chair beside Will. She tried to appear relaxed as she watched him laugh with her friends, but she couldn't do it. The rain pounded on the roof, distracting her, and she gave up trying to follow the conversation, instead focusing on feeling. She could usually tell if there were many Carules in an area, but she had never tried with Edrens. And with Will, Edrens would be the bigger threat. Didn't he know they watched his colony, waiting for him to leave? Didn't he see how stupid and dangerous his trip here was?
"So, Charity, Ari said your laptop is giving you issues?" Will asked. At hearing her name, Ari turned and blinked at Will.
Charity blushed. "Yeah. Ari said you might be able to look at it."
"I happen to be a computer genius," Will answered with a grin, buffing his nails on the front of his shirt.
Hunter growled low in his throat and Ari half-wondered if he was maybe part wolf. They all got up and Ari leapt to her feet in panic. "Will." Her voice was shrill, even to her own ears. "Walking… um… out in the open… I mean out, out that far isn't good for you at all." She tried not to shriek at him. He glanced at her with a frown.
“Hey, Ari. Protective much?” Nev asked. They were all looking at her like she had lost her mind. She met Shane’s eyes and winced. He was looking at her like she had two heads, and she felt like an idiot. But it couldn’t be helped. She didn’t care what her friends thought of her as long as Will was safe.
“It’s okay, I can run and get it.” Charity put a gentle hand on Will’s shoulder as she passed him. Will thumped back down at his seat, giving Ari a look.
“Will, can I talk to you?” she asked, dragging him back up from his seat and out of the library. After checking the hall to make sure they were alone, she fired angrily, “What are you doing?”
“My job,” he snapped. She blinked in surprise. She wasn’t used to Will snapping at her. Ever. Seeing her wounded expression, his face softened. “Ari, I’m not stupid. I came by saldepement spell, I didn’t drive. No Edrens saw me leave the compound. And I’ll go back as soon as I fix Charity’s computer. I’ve got everything I need now.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“What do you mean you’ve got everything you need?” she asked, confused. The hall was quiet and dim; the pounding rain on the roof hid her distraught breathing. “I’ve got their names, where they grew up, family info. I can run it across the Carules in my colony and see what I can turn up.”
“I could have gotten that information for you, Will.” Ari threw her hands up. They were shaking.
“I needed to see them for myself, Ari. And after the way they look at you…”
“Like I’m insane?” she grumbled.
“Like they adore you.” Ari’s chin dropped. “I don’t sense a threat here, Ari.” Will rubbed his hand briskly up and down one of her goose-bump covered arms. She was fairly positive she had never had goose bumps before.
“Well yeah Will, I could have told you that,” she said as Charity rounded the corner with her computer.
“Forgot about the rain when I offered to run get my laptop,” she said sheepishly, pulling it out from under her jacket, her white-blonde hair plastered to her head. And still she looked like an angel.
“Let’s look at that, shall we?” Will asked, taking it from her. After another long look at Ari, one eyebrow raised, he followed Charity into the library.
Ari stood in the hall, breathing deep, deep breaths and trying to talk herself out of repeatedly banging her head on the wall. Then she went in after them.
Watching Will with her friends when she wasn’t in complete panic mode was something of an eye opener. She realized that Hunter didn’t like her brother, but not for the reason she had assumed. Hunter didn’t like him because Charity was looking at Will like he was the most fascinating creature on the planet. Ari sat back in her chair, studying her big burly friend, and then turning her attention to Charity.
Nev had told her once that Charity didn’t date because her parents had forbidden it, but she wondered if that were the case or if it was because dating posed for Charity the same problems it posed for Ari. It was too hard to keep the lies straight.
She also saw Shane in a new light. He was studying Will, not his usual outgoing self. He was friendly enough, but quiet. And Ari wasn’t used to him being quiet. Shane liked to talk, and he was used to being the center of attention. He wasn’t easily intimidated, but… Ari’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
That was it.
Will intimidated him. But why? Will’s words came back to her, Like they adore you. Before she had time to mull that over, Will was dragging her into the conversation, telling them some story from their childhood, completely made up since neither of them had had a childhood. But it was fun to pretend, so for the next hour she lau
ghed along with him, forcing herself to chill, telling tale after made-up tale about what life was like, growing up with Will.
****
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Ari said after dinner. Will had stayed to eat with her, and every girl in the school had been fighting to get a seat at the table that held both Will and Shane. Ari had enjoyed the commotion Will caused immensely, and he was fun to just hang out with.
She was sad to see him go. Relieved, but sad. Even so, she wasn’t letting him out of her sight.
He said goodbye to her friends, giving Charity his email address in case she had any more problems with her computer, and then they started to the parking lot. As they walked into the rain, Will turned to her sheepishly. “Could you give me a ride to the saldepement? The storm is worse than it was when I got here and I’m not looking forward to that walk.”
Ari gave him a wicked grin. “I guess that’s your punishment for leaving the colony then, huh?”
But she turned and jogged to her dorm to get her keys.
****
“I’ve always wanted to get my license. Maybe one day,” he said as he slid into the passenger seat. It squeaked as his soaked pants rubbed across the leather. Ari glanced sideways at him as she tried to squeeze the water out of her hair, reminded once again of how much he had missed out.
Because of her.
Because she couldn’t find the Carules Prodigy and end the war. “I’m sorry Will,” she said but he waved it away.
“Maybe you could even teach me. How humiliating would that be, to take driving lessons from my baby sister?” He chuckled. They pulled onto the main road, driving toward Park City.
“Where’s the saldepement?” she asked.
“Not far. Ari, your friends…”
“I know. They’re Carules and I should kill them and get out of here.” She tried not to choke on the words.
“I was going to say they’re good friends and you should try to keep these ones.” At her scowl he wiped the smirk off his face. “Anyway, I think you’re safe here.”
She didn’t dare take her eyes from the road in this terrible weather, but she blinked in surprise at the windshield.
****
“So you and Will are pretty close, huh?” Shane asked her the next day as they walked to History together.
Ari smiled. “Yeah.”
“You’re different when he’s around.” Shane appreciated the fact that people moved out of the way when Ari came through. For the first couple of months of school, guys would stand in her way on purpose, but just a few of her icy glares and they had quit. That scowl was terrifying.
He didn’t give girls icy glares like that. He just couldn’t do it. But Ari didn’t seem to care what people thought, and she didn’t appear to put up with people getting in her way. She was like Hunter in that aspect. Actually, she and Hunter were a lot alike.
Shane just hoped that in this case, opposites attract. Otherwise he didn’t stand a chance of ever getting Ari to realize she was in love with him.
“Hello?” Ari asked. She was grinning at him like he had just done something very stupid. Was he drooling? He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth and Ari burst out laughing. Shane grabbed the sound and tucked it away in his mind for later.
“I asked how. I didn’t realize I was any different. Just me.” She was almost giggling. He wondered if she ever did giggle. He couldn’t picture it.
“You’re more relaxed. I mean, after your weird near-nervous breakdown-ness. After that you were different.” And he had spent the night tossing and turning, wondering if she would ever be that Ari with him.
“Hm. I didn’t realize. But yeah, Will is safe. He would never hurt me the way…” She trailed off, meeting his gaze. The hallway was crowded and noisy, but for a second it all stopped. It was just her… and those big brown eyes.
“I’ll never hurt you, Ari,” he said quietly, too quietly for how noisy the hall was, but she heard him anyway, and her mouth opened in a silent O.
Then she shook her head, blinking. “That isn’t what I meant,” she said, fighting a nervous chuckle as they started walking again. She twisted a red and black curl around her finger. But Shane was still standing in the middle of the crowd, watching her.
She stopped and turned around. “Are you coming?” she asked, tipping her head to the side to study him.
He started toward her. “It’s what I meant, Ari.” He searched her face. She was holding her breath, and he wondered if he kissed her right there in the hall, what she would do.
Probably punch him.
It seemed like an eternity passed, and then a brief, sweet smile lit up her eyes. “I know, Shane.”
“Hey! Are you guys coming or what?” Hunter bellowed from down the hall.
Shane couldn’t help it. He started laughing, and beside him Ari was laughing too. “Be right there, boss,” Ari yelled, that wicked grin lighting up her face.
****
History dragged. Shane couldn’t keep his eyes off Ari, sitting next to him. Three times Mr. Greene had to yell at him, and it didn’t matter. Did she feel it? Did she feel the way about him that he did about her? For a minute there, in the hall, he would have sworn she did, but now she just slumped in her seat next to him, flipping her pencil across her knuckles and trying to keep her eyes open.
Her long red and black hair was in a ponytail, falling over her shoulder onto Hunter’s desk. Shane glanced back as Hunter leaned forward, muttering, “Your hair is taking up my whole desk.” Ari smirked at him and tossed her head, flinging her hair further into his way. Hunter growled and shoved it off. “Charity’s hair is never all over my desk.”
Ari looked over at Charity and winked.
Out of nowhere a note flew through the air and landed on Ari’s desk. She pushed at it with her pencil as if it might be diseased, then flicked it over to Shane. It landed neatly in front of him, his name scrawled across the front in flowery handwriting and little hearts.
He glanced up at her, expecting to see her ever-present smirk, but she was frowning at the note. She met his eyes and to his shock, her cheeks colored and she quickly looked away. He fought down a hopeful grin and turned back to the note.
It was from Krissie, sitting two seats in front of Ari. Krissie looked over her shoulder at him and raised her eyebrows suggestively. He unfolded the note, trying not to let Mr. Greene hear him.
The bell rang, and Ari was stuffing her book in her bag when Hunter leaned over to Shane. “So what was the note about?” Ari froze, staring at the floor.
“Krissie wants me to take her out on Saturday. There’s some chick flick opening that she wants me to take her to see.” Shane sighed.
“You gonna do it?” Hunter was standing now. In fact, they were all standing. Ari realized she looked like an idiot and stood up, flinging her bag over her shoulder. She tried not to meet Shane’s eyes, but as usual she got caught in his metallic gaze. It was becoming a habit.
“I don’t know. The whole school was assuming Ari and I were together—”
Ari gave a start and blinked in surprise at him. “What?” she asked.
Shane continued as if she hadn’t spoken, still holding her eyes. “But someone is spreading the vicious rumor that we are just friends. And so…” He held up the little note, annoyed.
“Why? What? When… Where. Where did they get that idea?” Ari stuttered.
“You two are always together. What did you expect them to think?” Charity asked innocently behind her. Ari spun to face her, but Charity just gave her a sweet smile.
“But we’re never… together together. We’re just together,” Ari protested.
Hunter dropped his arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the classroom. “This is Shane we’re talking about. This school isn’t used to him not being attached. They have to make something up so as not to be confused.”
Shane followed them, scowling, but Ari didn’t see him. “You act like it’s a horrible thing for people to t
hink we’re together, Ari.” He frowned.
She stopped, forcing Hunter to stop with her. She wasn’t used to having people around who were tall enough to be able to put their arm around her shoulder. And here she was surrounded by tall people. Well, except for Charity, of course. “It’s not that, Shane. Don’t get all annoyed at me. I’m just… It’s just a surprise, that’s all. I always figured if I was in a relationship, I would know.” She twisted a red curl around her finger, nibbling on her lip. “I mean, I did get in a fight with Brittany about it yesterday. I guess that’s where the ‘vicious rumors’ started.” She turned to see Shane nodding.
“That’s why she’s been calling me every five minutes then. Thanks a lot, Ari.” He sighed, but at least he was smiling at her again.
“And we’re going to be late for class, guys. Can we move this along?” Charity shoved Hunter and Ari, trying to get them moving.
“Umm, yeah, my class is that way. I’m not sure why I’m walking this way,” Ari said as they started down the hall. Disentangling herself from Hunter’s arm, she waved and jogged away.
She could hear her phone vibrating in her bag but she didn’t have time to answer it now. She jogged down the hall, slipping into the library as the bell rang. She grinned at Livi as she sunk down in her chair, dropping her bag at her feet.
“That was close.” Livi raised an eyebrow. She had books spread out in front of her, several open, and a notebook in her lap.
“Busy?” Ari asked, surveying the mess.
“Yeah. No. I’m not. I just wanted to look busy because Darren, you remember he’s Nev’s shadow? He keeps trying to talk to me and I don’t want him to.” She sighed, pushing her glasses up on her nose.
Ari saw Darren across the room. He was watching them, perched on the edge of his seat like a vulture, waiting for a chance to jump up and run over.
“Why don’t you just tell him to leave you alone?” Ari asked, turning her eyes back to Livi.
