AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fair. And he didn’t even know about the boy-band in the alley.
“Fine. Believe what you want. But can you maybe stop being such a dick?”
“That’s asking for a lot, don’t you think? I mean, I am who I am.”
This time when I rolled my eyes, it was purposeful. He rose from the grass with fluid movements that belied the muscles rippling beneath his skin, and I kinda wanted to ask when he had time to hit the gym here. Was there even a gym? Was exercise still something we needed to do?
“You just gonna stare, Killer?”
There was no fighting back the flush in my cheeks when I realized my eyes had been glued to his ass.
Looking away quickly, I demanded, “Can we stop with the ‘Killer’ nonsense now?”
“Now? Why would we stop now?”
“Now that we’re friends, you’re gonna have to come up with—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He waved his hands in front of himself like he was trying to ward off the invisible bolts of friendship I was hurling at him. “I never said we were friends.”
“You didn’t have to. I can tell.”
“And I can tell this was a terrible mistake. But to answer your question, no. You’ll always be Killer to me.”
My frown only made him grin widely. That itchy palm came back, but I balled my hand into a fist and scowled instead. I was about to come up with a snippy retort, but he suddenly thrust a hand in my direction.
“You coming in now or what?”
I eyed his hand with lingering suspicion, but I pushed it down and reached out. He lifted me to my feet so quickly my momentum kept me going until I almost hit the ground again. Thankfully, he hadn’t let go of my hand and managed to keep me upright.
“Damn, Herc, calm down!”
“Damn, Klutz, get some balance.”
With a huff, I fell into step beside him and we walked back to the building in silence. To my surprise, there was none of the tension or awkwardness that always thrummed in the air when he was nearby. A hope sparked to life inside me that I didn’t dare acknowledge.
You’ve got more than enough on your plate, Thea. Just let it lie.
I really did, and as we reached the door, I knew I was going to have to pick that plate up again, along with every problem it held.
“Something wrong?” Varon’s deep voice startled me as it broke the silence that had settled between us, and I met his stare.
“No. No, it’s nothing.”
“Do you forget what my aptitude is? Because this isn’t the first time you’ve lied to me.” He cocked his head to the side and examined me closer. “Or is it yourself that you’re lying to?”
He might have a point there. “I don’t know what other time you’re talking about.” Lie. But I moved past it quickly. “But what I meant by ‘nothing’ was that it was nothing I could do anything about, so there was no point talking about it.”
“Or you just didn’t want to tell me.”
“That, too. You said it, remember? We’re not friends.”
“No, we are not, Killer. But I know what it’s like to try to get your head around being here in the beginning, around the fact you’re not human and you have a power they couldn’t even begin to understand. So, yeah, you know…”
He couldn’t do it. Couldn’t bring himself to say I could come to him if I needed to talk. I was honestly a little glad he didn’t. Outside in the fresh air and freedom of the gardens, I could take his apology and the detente. But going back into the reality of the school? It just didn’t seem real, like we’d cross that threshold and he’d sneer down, call me Killer, and light Dad’s shirt on fire all over again.
“It’s fine, Varon. But thanks.”
With a nod, he pulled open the door and held it, allowing me to go ahead of him. Taking that step inside felt ominous, but once I did, nothing felt any different. No crushing weight came down on me, and when Varon joined me inside, he didn’t suddenly flip a switch back to being a colossal asshole.
We headed toward the dormitories, the silence once again descended between us. I almost wished he’d talk. The quiet was giving me too much time to think. When it came time for us to go our separate ways to get to our rooms, I headed for his instead.
“Um, Killer? I know we’re on better terms now, but that doesn’t mean what you apparently think it means.”
“Please, Varon, are you really that full of yourself? I have some… business to handle, and it happens to be in this direction.” In his suite, actually, but he would find that out soon enough.
Every step that took us closer to that room made my chest get a little tighter, but there was no going back. Not if I wanted a chance to make things right, and I did. More than anything, I wanted to fix what I’d broken between me and Darrio.
I just had to hope I hadn’t damaged his heart beyond repair, otherwise, mine would soon suffer the same fate.
