Gluttony

would be the end of it. Of everything. And she wasn’t ready for that; all the more reason to get away.

She backed out of the bathroom and, without a word of explanation to Miranda, rushed out of the hotel room in search of her target.

“Harper, wait!” Adam called down the hallway. She glanced over her shoulder and, sure enough, he was standing in the hall in only a towel, flagging her down. She didn’t stop-but grinned to herself when she realized that he’d let the door slam and lock behind him.

Just before reaching the elevator, she heard a loud thud and a shouted curse.

Apparently he’d realized it too.

Kane sighed and, reluctantly, tore himself away from the stunning blonde to answer his ringing phone. He allowed Harper about thirty seconds of ranting before cutting her off. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in five,” he promised, snapping the phone shut before she had a chance to respond. He had been expecting her call and, though the face-off could easily be avoided for hours, he preferred to get all potential interruptions out of the way now. The blonde could wait.

This weekend was too important, and his plans too delicate, to risk interference from a wild card like Harper. And from the sound of it, she was about to get pretty wild.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she raged, as soon as he came into sight.

“Nice to see you, too, Grace,” Kane said dryly, spreading out on one of the Camelot’s threadbare couches. The pattern had likely once been intended to resemble a medieval tapestry, but now it just looked like Technicolor puke. “Have a good drive?”

“Lovely, thanks for asking.” As if the sarcasm had sapped all her energy, she sank into a chair beside him. “Seriously, Kane, what’s the deal?”

“The deal with…?”

“Adam? In my room? Taking a shower? Any of this ringing a bell?”

Kane smiled innocently. “Adam’s up in our room-yours, mine, his. Ours. Think of it as one big happy family.”

“And it didn’t occur to you to mention that this was the plan?”

Kane shrugged. “Did you think I was going to pay for two hotel rooms? I’m not a bank, Grace.”

“I-” Her mouth snapped shut, and he knew why. Given that he was footing the bill for the trip, it would be pretty tacky of her to complain about the lodgings. And Harper Grace was never tacky. “I just would have liked some advance notice, that’s all,” she said sullenly. “You didn’t have to ambush me.”

“If I’d told you ahead of time, you wouldn’t have come,” Kane pointed out. Adam and Harper had been feuding for a month now, and Kane was getting sick of it. Not because he felt some goody- two-shoes need to play peacemaker, he told himself. Just because there weren’t too many people whose presence he could tolerate; it was troublesome when they refused to share breathing room.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, a hint of a whine entering her voice. “Make nice and pretend like nothing ever happened between us? Not gonna happen.”

“Not my problem, Grace,” Kane told her. “Talk to him, don’t talk to him, I don’t care.” Not much, at least. “But this is the only room you’ve got, so unless you don’t plan on sleeping or bathing this weekend-and, no offense, but I think you’re already overdue on the latter-you should probably get used to it.”

“But-”

“Gotta go,” he said quickly, bouncing off the couch. “The most beautiful blonde in all the land is waiting for her knight in shining armor to arrive. I’m hoping to show up first.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and, miracle of miracles, she cracked a smile. “Now, your mission, and you have no choice but to accept it: Chill out, shower, then grab Miranda and meet me down here in one hour. We’re going out.”

Harper checked her watch and rolled her eyes. “Geary, it’s the middle of the night, and some of us have been on the road for an eternity.”

Kane shook his head. “Grace, this is Vegas.” Why was he the only person capable of understanding the concept? “Night doesn’t exist here. It’s a nonstop party, and we’re already late.”

“I don’t know…”

“Since when does Harper Grace turn down a party?”

He knew perfectly well since when. That was why he’d insisted she come this weekend and why he’d dragged Adam along for the ride. Harper had been on the sidelines long enough-it was time for her to get back into the game. Whether she wanted to or not.

It was good pot-strong, smooth, decently pure-but not good enough to help Beth sleep through Fish and Hale’s impromptu jam session. (Featuring Hale’s off-key humming and Fish banging Beth’s hairbrush against the wall for a drumbeat.) After an hour of tossing and turning, she finally gave up on trying to sleep-only to discover that Reed was wide awake, lying on his side and staring at her.

“What?” she asked, giggling at the goofy expression on his face.

“Nothing.” He gave her a secretive smile, then a kiss. “Let’s get out of here.”

Still clad in her T-shirt and purple pajama shorts, she crawled out of bed and followed him out the door. They headed downstairs in search of the pool, running into half the Haven High senior class on their way.

Beth didn’t care who saw her or how she looked. Only one person’s opinion mattered to her these days, and only one person’s presence made any difference.

Make that two.

Beth saw her first, and tried to dart down a hallway before they were spotted, but it was too late.

“Well, this is just great,” Harper said, lightly smacking her forehead. “As if my weekend weren’t perfect enough.”

Just ignore her, Beth told herself. She didn’t want to get into any more fights with Harper-and not just because she always lost. Yes, Harper had done her best to ruin Beth’s life-but Beth’s attempt at revenge had nearly succeeded in ruining Harper, permanently. Just as she would always bear the guilt for Kaia’s death-Don’t think about that, she reminded herself-she would always know that Harper could just as easily have been the one who’d died. Harper was the one who’d landed in the hospital, gone through painful rehabilitation, emerged pale, withdrawn, and the object of too much curiosity and not a little scorn. They were more than even, although Harper would never- could never-know it.

But forgiveness was easier said than done. And even the sight of Harper still made Beth’s stomach twist.

“Hey, Harper,” she said softly. Reed pressed a hand against her lower back, as if sensing her need for support.

Harper’s eyes skimmed over Beth without stopping and zeroed in on Reed. “Having fun with the new girlfriend?” she asked, disdain dripping from her voice. “Guess it’s easy for some people to forget.”

Harper tried to push past them, but Reed’s arm darted out and grabbed her. Just let it go, Beth pleaded silently, wanting only for the moment to end quickly, without bloodshed. But she could tell from the look on his face and the tension in his body that he’d already been wounded.

“I haven’t forgotten,” he told Harper, in a low, dangerous voice. “Kaia would have-”

“Don’t say her name,” Harper ordered him, her voice tight and her face strained. “Don’t say anything. Just enjoy yourself. I’m so sure”-though it wouldn’t have seemed possible, her tone grew even more sarcastic-“that’s what she would have wanted.”

A moment later, Harper was gone, and Reed was the one who needed support. But when Beth tried to touch him, he stepped away.