out his hand. "I go by Gavin. I'm Lucas' best friend. How are you?"
I stared at his hand like it was an alien limb that he extended. I had no plans to touch it. Since he knew who I was and didn't seem to be bothered with it, I smiled. "Wanna have a drink?" We both knew I didn't mean a normal beverage.
He drew his hand back in a heartbeat. "Ah no. I enjoy living how I am. That was a good one. Good trick." He bent forward as if tipping his hat to me. "You're a sneaky one. That's good. You've gotta be sneaky in this life. You'll do just fine."
The room started to shake again. This guy was pissing me off. He treated me like I was some newbie. Then it stopped abruptly as I realized I was a newbie. Still, some respect was granted, especially if he knew who I was.
Then the door burst open and Brown panted, "I had a premonition. Sorry, I can't breathe." She bent over and took deep breaths. Once she had, she looked back up and smiled. "Why do you have a vampire in here?"
His eyes shifted again and he drew back. "You're a witch."
"Really?" I was dumbfounded. "You're scared of her?"
Brown hissed and then frowned at me. "Why shouldn't he be?"
Gavin withdrew to the window. "You won't hurt me whereas she could. Plus, I don't like witches."
"Only because you loved one once," Brown snorted and then clamped a hand over her mouth. "How did I know that? It must've been my powers."
All of this was annoying. I rolled my eyes and flicked a finger so the windows locked. I didn't want Gavin to escape so easily. Then I turned to her. "What was your premonition?"
"That you were drowning. But you look fine? Did you take a shower?"
"No."
Gavin's eyes darted from her to me. "You know her?"
I nodded.
Then he turned to her. "You know what she is?"
Her eyes leapt. "What? What is she?"
The room shook again, but he smirked back at me. Brown bounced around in a circle. Her eyes were wide as she looked around.
"She's dating my best friend." He smiled. "Luke Roane. Do you know who he is?"
"No." But she frowned. "Should I? I should, shouldn't I? You said it like I should've."
"Ah. No." I was starting to believe I lived in the insane asylum.
"You're dating Luke Roane?" Emily asked from the doorway. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
Oh…shit.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Emily stumbled forward, but grabbed Brown as if she were about to fall. "You know Luke?"
I closed my mouth and glanced at Gavin, who winked at me.
'Bastard vampire.'
"Ooh, I heard that!" Brown squeaked.
Gavin looked at her, surprised. So did I, oh hell. If she could hear thoughts, this wasn't good.
"I just heard a thought! Someone thought, 'Bitch?' Is that right? Who would—" Then she jumped and looked at Emily, whose hand was now fisted into her sleeve. "Oh. Nevermind!" She sent us an impish grin. "My bad."
"What's going on?" Pippa stood in the doorway. Her hand stayed on the frame as if she was going to bolt any moment.
Emily turned to her. "Davy is a liar and a cheat. And a backstabber."
Pippa looked at me. Her mouth fell open and the questions flew over her mind. 'What happened? What is Davy lying about? I didn't know she was dating anybody—wait—she's not dating Emily, is she? That wouldn't be good. Oh no. Davy's looking at me! I forgot she can hear my thoughts. Davy, don't listen to me!'
I heard Gavin chuckle behind me and glared at him. I couldn't do anything to Emily or the other girls, but I could hurt him and before I realized what I was doing, a surge of power burst through me. My eyes shifted to the Immortal's whites.
'Get out!' I roared in my head.
The window flung open behind him, the screen disappeared and his body flew backwards, through it. It happened so fast, no one gasped before the screen had reappeared and the window was closed again.
A beat of silence filled the room. Then a thud was heard behind me. I whirled to find Emily on the floor.
Pippa screamed and dropped to her knees. "She fainted! Oh my goodness." Then she glared at me. "This is your fault."
Brown bounced up and down where she stood. "Did you see that?! That was amazing. I'm way more powerful than I thought!"
Pippa's mouth fell open and then closed it with a snap. "I cannot believe any of this."
"Is she okay?" I asked. I hesitated before I crossed the room and knelt beside my roommate.
"She fainted. She's not dead," Pippa snapped at me and stroked Emily's cheek. Then she went still and gasped again.
"What? What?" I reached out and clamped a hand on the wolf's arm. Instantly, I heard her thoughts and was in the swirl of her emotions. They were memories intermixed with images. I saw Pippa as a little girl with the same two braids and overalls. Then I saw her as a puppy. She had a coat of tawny-colored fur. She was running around, stumbling from paws that were too big for her. Then there was another image of a young man. His face was round in shape with brown hair that looked messily rumpled. His eyes stared straight at me, as if he could see me.
I ripped out of her, but not before I heard her shock, 'She's already met him. It's Pete!'
As I sat back on my heels, I knew Pippa was hurt that she hadn't been told this. Something in her had assumed she would've known right away.
She looked at me, dazed. "He saw you. He knows who you are. And he's going to tell her."
My throat had a knot in it. "Who is he? Who is Pete to you?"
"He's no one. He's another wolf. That's all." She jerked upright and grabbed our dresser for balance.
'Like hell he was no one to her.'
I stood, slower, and watched the wolf. A myriad of emotions were flashing across her face, one after another. I knew Brown saw it too and she came to stand beside me. Then Pippa shook her head again and muttered, "I can't handle this."
She rushed from the room. The door remained open behind her and a second later, hers slammed shut.
Brown jumped from the sound. "Oh wow. Geez." She looked at me. "Are all wolves like that? She's jumpy for how quiet she seems. They repress too much for their well-being."
"Werewolves repress a lot. They're very secretive."
"I know. It's not healthy. Humans have a better balance of their primal and logical side. Vampires are all about the primal and werewolves are all about the logical. It's not right. There should be something that fixes it and everyone can be happy. Hmmm. Maybe I could do a spell?"
I shuddered at the thought before I started to lift Emily to the couch. Brown picked up her legs and we placed her gently down. After I covered her with a blanket, I sat at my desk with no idea how to repair anything. There had been too much damage done.
Brown sat the edge of my bed. I felt her presence trying to comfort me. "Who is Luke Roane?"
What did I even say about him? "He's complicated."
"Are you two dating like that guy said?"
Hell. Were we? "No. We're not dating."
"But you want to?"
I glanced up and felt strangely vulnerable.
She smiled to reassure me. "It's okay if you said you want to. You wouldn't be the first girl to fall for a guy they couldn't have. It's common." Her eyes saddened.
Then I stopped thinking. I let it out. "It's not how Emily thinks. I didn't meet him through her. We met because, it's complicated, but it has to do with something that happened to me, something that no one knows about. He's been helping me with it or he did help me with it until recently. Things happened. We crossed the line, did things, but we haven't since—" I took a deep breath. "Since I found out that he's in love with someone else who is dead and who died because of—he still loves her and she's still dead. Then he has this other friend who hates me. Roane's come to see me a few times, but it's never just to see me. It's always to check on me. He wants to make sure I'm okay. He feels like it's his duty that I'm okay. And Emily knew him from a class. I knew she liked him, but
I didn't realize how strong her feelings were until now."
"Who's Pete?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. She hasn't told me about him."
"Do you blame me?" Emily asked. She sat up, looking pale. "I fainted, didn't I?"
Brown and I nodded.
Emily rolled her eyes. "That's so embarrassing."
"It happens to me all the times, especially when I try a powerful spell." She shrugged. "Or when I do any spell."
My roommate caught my gaze. "Is that true? Everything you just said?"
I nodded. I couldn't shake that vulnerable feeling.
She groaned and fell backwards. "How am I supposed to be mad at you now? You sound like you're in love with him and can't be with him. I hate this. I hate it."
Brown sighed, "I think it's romantic. She loves him, but he loves someone else. He still wants to make sure she's okay."
"Shut up," Emily said at the same time I did.
We glanced at each other and both grinned. Then I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry about Luke. I really am."
Emily dismissed me. "Don't worry about it. I'm not even that upset. I'm hurt. I feel like you went behind my back, but it's not like you're the only one keeping secrets. You know about Pete?" She blinked then. "How do you know about Pete?"
Uh, hell. "Pippa knows him and she figured it out. Don't ask me how. I have no idea." I gestured towards the door. "She took off. I think she's pretty hurt you didn't tell her about him."
"Why would I? I wanted to keep him to myself for a little bit. I hadn't even told you and I would've told you first. You're my closest friend here."
Warmth spread through me when I heard that. I felt so touched, honored. I realized then Emily had become one of my best friends. She might not know as much about me as Kates did, but she'd defended me at times. "Thanks, Em."
"I want friends like you." Brown blinked back tears. "You guys are so awesome to each other. You both are so understanding. It's so much. This is so great."
Emily sat back. "Do you do drugs?"
"See. Like that! You're so honest with each other, with me too." Brown laughed to herself. "And I don't do drugs, but I can see why you might think that."
Emily asked me, "Was she hurt that I hadn't said anything? I didn't know she knew Pete."
"I think," I chose my words very carefully. "I think she feels like she's closer to you than you think you are to her and yes, it looked to me that she knew Pete. It looked like there was some history between her and him."
"Who is Pete?" Brown plopped down between us. Emily looked down at her hands. Then Brown added, "Don't be shy now. We all know. You heard about Davy and this Roane character. Your turn?"
Emily looked back up and glared. Then she gave up the fight. "I met him at the grief group I've been going to. It's so amazing. He's so amazing. He's funny and smart and nice and just wonderful." She smiled to herself with a dreamy look on her face. "He's there because he lost someone close to him and needed to talk to people who understood. He said no one understood. When I went in and sat down at the first meeting it was love at first sight." She sighed. "I love him, Davy. He's so amazing. I feel like a part of me is home now. It's like I'm complete with him."
I smiled. "That's wonderful, Emily. It really is." I kept the sharp retort that she'd felt the same with Bennett in the back of my mind.
Brown's head swiveled between us. "If you're in love with this Pete, why were mad at Davy about this other guy?
The dreamy look vanished.
I sighed. It was now awkward again.
Emily stood up. "I wasn't mad about the guy. I was mad because she lied to me."
"What did she lie about? I mean, she just didn't tell you, did you?"
"It's different." I placed a hand on Brown's arm.
"It's not different. She's falling in love with some guy and never said a word to you, but she's mad at you. You never told her about this guy you fell in love with even though he's with someone else? So you're not even with him. You met him separately from her."
I gave a small shrug. "There were different circumstances, but Emily feels I betrayed her because she knew him and I never told her that I did."
"But you didn't because it was too painful to say anything. Who wants to tell someone that you like a guy she knows too, but he's with someone else? What's the point then? That's humiliating. I'd keep that to myself too. I don't think you did anything wrong."
Emily stood in front of her closet. Her head was bent. Her door was still closed and she didn't move.
Brown looked at me. "You didn't do anything wrong. If Emily can fall in love with someone and not tell you, she wouldn't say a thing if she liked someone who loved someone else. She wouldn't want to be embarrassed in front of you and she would be because you're the more—"
I clamped a hand over Brown's mouth. Whatever she was about to say did not need to be said. After she quieted and sat back on the couch, I let go and watched my roommate. What was she thinking and why was I so hesitant to read her thoughts?
Then I closed my eyes. I had to go in there. I had to violate my roommate. And I heard, 'Pete said she wouldn't understand. No one would. He said that she couldn't know. Am I wrong in not telling her? I didn't lie because—yes I did. Who am I lying to? Myself? That stupid girl is right. I wouldn't have told Davy if Pete hadn't felt the same as me. What do I do now? Pete, come help me.'
Suddenly the whole room shook again. The ferocity of it shocked even me and I stood. This wasn't me. This wasn't Brown. What was coming?
Brown gasped, excited and scared at the same time.
Emily looked around, but there was a waiting look in her. That's when I realized that she knew what he was. She had asked for him to come and she thought it was him coming.
Pippa ran to our door and braced herself. "What's going on?"
Brown screamed, "Something's coming."
Then it stopped and the air felt eerie. I had a moment to wonder what stood outside our door before three bursts of light exploded from the hallway. Pippa fell to the ground. Emily crumbled. And Brown dropped. All of them were unconscious.
"What?" I gaped.
Saren stood in the doorway, in blue leather this time. The fire in her eyes was blazing and it smoldered in the air. A burning smell filled the room. "We have to go. Now."
"What did you just do?" I couldn't look away from their fallen bodies.
"They aren't dead, but they will be soon if I don't get you out of here."
"But—"
She grabbed my hand and both of us teleported. The room wrapped around us and we were on our feet in an alley somewhere.
I threw down Saren's hand. "What just happened?!"
She ignored me and scanned our surroundings. "We're safe. For now."
"Saren!" I clipped out. "Fill me in on what's going on or I'm going back. I'll figure it out for myself."
A burst of fire exploded from her eyes. It zapped and burned me before she retracted it. "Don't threaten me. I am still your superior and you need me if you're going to survive the near future."
"What?!" My mouth hung open. Again. "What are you talking about?"
She stopped and turned to me. "Do you know what kind of wolf you're roommate is mixed up with?"
"Like Pippa? She's harmless."
"The girl is. He's not. Pete Young is the next leader of the werewolf nation. He's at your school to unite the werewolves for an uprising against the vampires."