“You think that’s more than a coincidence?” Nash asked, scooting his chair closer so he could see the screen as I opened my web browser.
“What have we learned about coincidence, boys and girls?” I typed the keywords:
“There’s no such thing,” Nash mumbled as results began to fill the screen. The third link led to the
“Lynne Erica Combs, 38, passed away in her home on August 29. She is survived by daughter Farrah Combs and husband Michael Combs, of Crestwood, Texas, and sister Emily Meyers of Dallas, Texas.”
“August,” Sabine said, as I pressed the print screen button. “Almost seven months ago.”
“Lydia said Farrah was twenty-eight weeks pregnant.” I closed my laptop without bothering to shut it down. “That’s seven months, right?”
Nash nodded. “Are we all thinking the same thing?”
“He fed on the mothers and bred with the daughters.” My stomach pitched with disgust, and suddenly I was glad I hadn’t eaten anything. I twisted in my chair to face Alec, who looked as grim as I’d ever seen him—which said a lot, considering how he’d spent the last quarter of a century. “Is that proof enough for you? Has he earned a permanent end?”
Alec nodded, glancing around at each of the three of us. “Take him down.”
14
“So, I’m meeting Mr. Beck after school today,” Emma announced, a bottle of Coke halfway to her mouth.
“No you’re not,” I said, and Sabine choked on a laugh.
Em set her bottle on the picnic table and glared at me. “Does the phrase, ‘You’re not the boss of me,’ mean anything to you?”
“Nope. Nothing.” But I softened my hard line with a smile.
“Nothing what?” Nash slid onto the bench seat next to me with a tray full of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes and Em turned to him, like she’d just discovered an ally.
“Mr. Beck’s tutoring me after last period today…” she began, and Nash looked at me over a spoonful of potatoes.
“You really think that’s a good idea?”
“Why are you asking her?” Em demanded, and Sabine just watched, enjoying the show.
“Sorry.” Nash dipped a chicken nugget into a puddle of gravy and glanced at me again with his brows raised. “I wasn’t sure how much…?”
“She knows everything. About Beck…” I qualified, when his brows rose even higher. I’d given Em the basics before first period, hoping to arm her with knowledge. But I still hadn’t decided what to tell her about Thursday. I didn’t want her worrying about me for the next two days, but I didn’t want my death to take her by surprise, either.
“Okay, look, it’s not like you’re swimming in options here,” Em pointed out, as Nash shoved the entire nugget into his mouth. “You guys need me. Sabine can’t get close to him and even if Kaylee’s math grades were bad—and they’re not—she’s not exactly seducible.”
Sabine laughed so hard she nearly inhaled a corn chip.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
The
“That’s not what I meant…” Emma started, but I was too furious at the
“Shut up!” I snapped at Sabine, and they all three stared at me in surprise, not because Sabine didn’t deserve it, but because I rarely let her have it. “Just shut the hell up until you have something helpful to say. I’m trying to do something really important here before I…” I trailed off with a glance at Emma. “Before anyone else gets hurt. And I’m sick of Sabine taking cheap shots at me. I’m sick of school, and bells, and classes that don’t matter. I’m sick of waiting for the inevitable.”
My voice was rising, and people from other tables were starting to look, but I couldn’t stop. There were too many things taking up space in my head, and the only way to relieve some of the pressure was to let them spill out of my mouth. And spill they did….
“I’m pissed off about all the things I’ll never see and do, and I’m furious about the fact that I don’t have time for anything I
Sabine and Emma gaped at me, and on the edge of my vision, my cousin Sophie stood from her table and stomped into the cafeteria, probably mortified by the spectacle I’d made of myself, and of her by extension.
Nash slid one arm around my waist and started to whisper something in my ear, but before he’d said more than my name, someone started clapping. I looked up just as Thane appeared on the bench across from me, next to Emma.
Startled, I yelped and jerked away from the table. Nash tried to catch me, but I fell over the bench and landed on my back on the grass, stunned and out of breath.
Laughter echoed all around me, but I barely heard it. Em and Sabine stood to make sure I was okay. Nash pulled me to my feet and brushed grass from my back, but I couldn’t focus on what he was saying, because when Emma sat, Thane scooted closer to her. So close that if he’d been corporeal, she’d have felt his warmth against her arm.
“Entertaining as always, Kaylee…” Thane said. “If I ask nicely, will you scream for me when it’s time?” Then he disappeared and my hands shook at my sides as the rest of the quad roared back into focus, now that the reminder of my own mortality had gone.
And there, leaning against the brick wall across from my table, stood Tod, scowling furiously at the spot where Thane had just been. He met my gaze and held it for just a second, then blinked out of sight.
“Kaylee, are you okay?” Emma asked, as I sank onto the bench seat again.
“Yeah.” I ran my hands through my hair to tame it, and debated hiding behind it instead. People were still staring. I could feel them.
“What was that all about?” she asked, while Sabine just watched me, without her usual smirk for once.
“Nothing. Sorry. I’m just stressed about Beck and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Em looked unconvinced. “Maybe you should go home for a nap,” she suggested. “I’m sure Nash could talk them into letting you check out.” Every now and then his Influence actually came in handy.
“I don’t have time for a nap. I’m fine.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have time?”
Crap.
Then Emma nodded. “If you’re done bossing me around.”
I exhaled, long and slow, then met her gaze. “Em, I’m just trying to protect you. But if the threat of pregnancy, infertility and death isn’t enough to give you second thoughts about playing bait…I guess I can understand that.”
