Unraveled

Dad would not agree, her conscience shouted.

Well, Dad didn’t have all the facts.

Palms sweating, Mary Ann hoisted herself out. She maintained a somewhat steady grip on the ledge, allowing her legs to dangle. Deep breath in, deep breath out. The air was no longer layered with mist, but was chilled nonetheless.

She let go. Her feet hit—thud—and her knees buckled. She slid along the shingles before catching herself on the gutter, sprawled out, scratched and bruised. Well, more scratched and bruised. Her workout with Aden had left her unbelievably sore. And in places she hadn’t even known she possessed!

She panted, grateful for the shadows as she waited for her dad’s light to turn on and his head to peek out his window. One minute passed, two. Her arms shook. There was nothing, no movement.

In the distance, several wolves howled.

She gulped. Riley? Had he spotted her?

Probably not, she quickly decided. He would have called her cell, texted her, something. So who did that leave? His brothers? She knew they were out there, patrolling the area and fighting goblins, but she’d never met them. And if they had spotted her, they would have contacted Riley. Right? Right. So again, she would have been called or texted. That she hadn’t been had to mean no one was watching her.

Okay. You can do this. Slowly, she inched her way over the final edge. The shaking in her arms intensified as she once again dangled. Had the first-story roof always been this high up? Couldn’t have been. She would have noticed. Just do it.

Mary Ann let go and fell.

When she hit, her legs were jarred, her kneecaps slamming straight before bending. She flipped backward, rolling far more inelegantly than she’d intended, air knocking from her lungs and dirt and grass filling her mouth.

Thank God she still hadn’t eaten. She would have vomited for sure. But it was odd, her lack of appetite. More and more, she was actually…repulsed by food. The thought of it, the smell of it. Ick. Even odder, she wasn’t weak from lack of nourishment.

Two days had passed. Shouldn’t she be shaky?

Think about that later. She popped to her feet and stumbled next door to Penny’s house, stopping at the large oak next to Penny’s widow. Lucky.

Stars winked over Mary Ann’s eyes as she gathered a few small pebbles and tossed them. Clink. Clank. A moment passed. Nothing. How frustrating. Would people wake up if she shouted “fire”? ’Cause this was ridiculous.

Three more stones were needed before the glass rose and Penny stuck out her blond head. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned as she searched the night for whatever had disturbed her. Her hair, usually straight and gleaming prettily, was in tangles around her face.

Her jaw dropped when she spotted Mary Ann. “What are you doing?” she whispered fiercely.

“I need your help. Get dressed. And bring your keys.” They’d take her Mustang GT. Mary Ann was still saving to buy a car for herself.

Penny didn’t ask any questions. She simply smiled, blue eyes gleaming, and nodded. “Give me five,” she said, and closed the window.

Mary Ann used the time to catch her breath. Her lungs were so grateful, they finally stopped burning. Then another howl rent the air, this one closer, and Mary Ann’s lungs were forgotten. She spun, nervously studying the gravel road, the homes, the trees. Leaves and branches rattled together as if something—or someone—was out there, just waiting for snacktime.

Hurry up, Pen.

A few minutes later, the front door of the house squeaked open, then closed with a snap. Mary Ann whipped back around. And there was Penny, clad in one of her favorite baby doll dresses—pink with white lace—flip-flops on her feet, hair straight and gleaming again, strolling forward without a care. As if they were headed to school. As if it wasn’t beyond cold and close to midnight.

“What are you doing?” Mary Ann demanded quietly, racing over to her friend. A cloud of expensive perfume enveloped her. “Your parents—”

“Won’t care, believe me. The shock of my new ‘condition’ wore off and they gave me a pardon. I’m no longer grounded for life. Besides, I rarely sleep anymore, so they hear me padding around the house at all hours. Sometimes I get bored and take off.” She shrugged. “No big. So where we going?”

“Let’s get warm, then talk.”

When they were situated inside the car, buckles in place, the engine revved and Lady Gaga blasted from the speakers. Penny turned down the volume and pulled out of the driveway.

Mary Ann said, “I’m sorry I woke you up. If I’d known you were having problems sleeping, I would have—”

Penny laughed. “No worries, girl. I’ve been trying to begin your miseducation for years. The fact that you asked me to sneak out is priceless. So I’ll ask again. Where we going?”

“Tri City.”

“Really? Why? It’ll be dead this time of night.”

Maybe. Maybe not. “I just want to drive around and see if anyone’s out.”

“Try again. I don’t believe you. There’s something else…expecting someone in particular to be there? Someone like, oh, I don’t know, the oh, so gorgeous Riley?” The last was said in a sing-song voice. “’Cause he’s the only person I can think of who could make Mary Contrary finally come out to play.”

“Mary Contrary,” Penny’s childhood nickname for her. And she had been. Very contrary. A bundle of energy her parents hadn’t been able to tame. Until her mom—aunt—died, and then Mary Ann had changed. Happy smile— gone. Laughter—gone. Wild spirit—crushed. In their place, a need to please her dad had grown. She’d become somber, a little withdrawn. She’d even developed a fifteen-year plan for her life. College, doctorate, internship, open up her own practice. Like her dad. Now…goodbye, fifteen-year plan. She had no idea what she’d do tomorrow, much less next year. And she was happy about that. Finally free.

“Well?” Penny prompted.

Mary Ann ignored the question. She didn’t want to discuss Riley with Penny, and not because Penny had slept with Mary Ann’s last boyfriend. To her surprise, that was even less of an issue than it had been at lunch. She just, well, her feelings for Riley were so new, so…intense. She could barely process them herself and didn’t want anyone else trying to do so.

“Is the baby keeping you up?” she asked.

“Probably,” Penny replied, allowing the subject change without comment.

“Any word from Tucker?”

Her friend’s baby blues clouded over. “Not a peep.”

Tucker was a moron.

After the Vampire Ball, she, Aden, Riley and Victoria had taken him to a nearby—yet not too nearby—hospital for a much-needed transfusion. Earlier she’d called his room to check on him and was told he’d taken off. Now, he was out there somewhere, armed with knowledge that could be dangerous to her friends.

Had he told anyone that vampires were real? Riley had made him vow not to—Victoria would have Voice Voodooed him, but vampire compulsion apparently didn’t work on demons—and Tucker had seemed adamant in his agreement. But as Mary Ann well knew, Tucker was a very good liar. What was he doing? Where had he gone?

“How’d Grant take the news?” Grant was Penny’s on-again off-again boyfriend. Currently off. Probably forever off now that Penny was pregnant with someone else’s kid.

“He won’t speak to me. Unlike you, he’s not forgiving.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No big,” she said again, but she couldn’t mask the pain in her voice.

They were quiet the rest of the drive, each lost in her own thoughts. Finally, though, they reached their destination. Red brick building after red brick building came into view, some crumbling, some brand-new, but each