Athena came into focus. She stood at my feet, looking down at me with a pleased expression. "He's mine now," she practically purred.
I started laughing. "Grow up, Athena. Or get a therapist. Maybe there's a psychotic bitches support group you could join.
How's your scratch, Henri?" I asked.
He snorted and leaned against the dresser. "You mean the shotgun blast in my side? It's wonderful. I have about eighty pellet-size scars to show for it."
"Dude," Dub said, plopping down in one of the chairs, "Who gets shot with their own gun? Embarrassing, if you ask me."
Henri gave Dub's chair a hard shove with his foot. Dub laughed, and Henri rolled his eyes.
Don't be afraid."
And then we were gone.
Weightless.
The ground at my feet suddenly disappeared along with everything else.
A scream lodged in my throat, coming out broken and pathetic.
And then we were sitting on a wide ledge. High above Jackson Square. Christ, he'd blinked me to - I gazed above me.
Not just a ledge. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
"It helps if you breathe."
"I think I might kill you," I said in a near whisper.
Sebastian's shoulder bumped mine as he tried to hide a smile. "Well, you've got time, because we'll be up here for an hour or so before I have enough power again to get us down. I didn't think you'd be afraid of heights."
I glared at him. "I'm not afraid of heights. I am, apparently, afraid of disappearing from solid ground and then reappearing on a ledge.
His interest in you is merely rebellion. You are different. Forbidden. Something he knows is wrong." Her dark eyes traveled over my features. "He sees beauty now, is lured by it, even though he knows what lies beneath is evil. So intriguing, this flirting with danger." She flicked a glance at the jar. "Pandora was the same way, you know? A deceptive package. The Greek writers called her Kalon Kakon, a beautiful evil. It won't be long before you destroy those around you, just like she did."
My fists clenched hard. "And if that happens, Josephine, if I turn into a monster, I'll be coming for you first, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me.
He's such a jerk," I said, wanting to rant. "If I'm going to go gaga for some guy, it'll be because I want to, not because some asshat is helping me along."
God how lame was that? Just shut up, Ari. Before you embarrass yourself even more.
"Well, just for the record...forcing a girl to go all gaga for me isn't my style." He paused, his tone doing nothing to hide his amusement. "I like the gaga to be natural."
I rolled my eyes and took off at a jog before he could see that my face had gone straight past hot to volcanic.
The fact that students passed him by in uniform and he was standing there in torn jeans and faded old concert T-shirt made me smile. The rebel in me could totally relate.
I stopped in front of him. "They're not going to let you stay in school dressed like that. I got a huge lecture for wearing a black shirt the other day."
He glanced my outfit, which didn't really diverge from my normal fashion, and arched an eyebrow. Black cargo pants, white tank, grey zip-up hoodie, with a blade strapped to my thigh and a dagger in my boot.
"What? Pants are black. Shirt is white. Blade stays." I grinned wider. "Because I'm special.
I find it very hard to believe she would simply send you both back unharmed," Josephine said.
"And I couldn't care less," I said tiredly, "about setting your mind at ease, Josephine."
"Why, you belligerent little-
He turned his head, a grin playing on his lips. Then he leaned over and kissed me on the mouth.
"What was that for?"
"Because you're a good person, Ari, one of the best. And because it sounds like we're about to get into trouble again."
Which translated into: Whatever happened, we were in this together.
« first previous
Page 3 of 3.
Data privacy
Imprint
Contact
Diese Website verwendet Cookies, um Ihnen die bestmögliche Funktionalität bieten zu können.