“That’senough.” Orion’s eyes flashed in a way True hadn’t seen before. And his authoritative baritone was back. He looked down at Bradley, his face serious. “You will not speak to her that way.”
“Don’t tell us what to do, loser.” Perhaps at the knowledge that he’d failed to intimidate Orion with his meanness, Bradley’s voice wobbled, weak and unsure. As if this treachery by his own body angered him, Bradley pushed Orion on the shoulder, barely making the other boy move. Which was pretty impressive, considering Bradley was 99 percent muscle. This seemed to make him even angrier, because he shoved Orion harder.
“Hey!” True yelled, wondering if she could kick him in the shin.
But before she could move, Orion grabbed Bradley’s arm and glared at him with an expression of absolute dislike that, until this moment, True hadn’t been sure he was even capable of. “Don’ttouch me.”
Aiden lunged at Orion, defending Bradley’s honor, and Truelunged for Aiden. But then the other two boys lunged for Wicked Wynona, and True turned to save her from their meaty paws. Orion could take care of himself; Wicked Wynona was a hapless innocent who’d already been abused enough for one night.
But it was apparent almost immediately that this was going to be a quick fight, one not in True’s—or Wynona’s—favor. The boys, both football players like Bradley, were incredibly strong, fueled by mindless, self-righteous fury (and beer). True tried tugging on Wicked Wynona’s arm, but she was afraid all she’d succeed in doing would be ripping the poor witch apart.
“Let her go!”
“No!” one of the guys yelled back.
“Yes!”
“No!”
Past the boys, True saw Orion grappling with Bradley and Aiden, both of whom were trying to pin his arms back. He had the upper hand currently, but how much longer could he hold out in an unfair fight?
True had barely finished that thought when Bradley’s two friends went flying back and crashed to the floor of the balcony. True stood blinking at them for a moment, wondering if she’d begun putting out an energy force field using only her mind—seemed about right for tonight—when she realized what had actually happened.
The figure was back, looking down at the boys with contempt in her surreal blue eyes. There was a weird electrical charge on the balcony now, though it could’ve just been the storm due the next day. The two boys stared at True, their eyes wide and horrified. Wait, did they thinkTruehad pushed them? Couldn’t they see the woman, standing right in front of them?
But there was no time to worry about that right now.
“Help Orion!” True called as she ran to his side, not even sure if the woman could hear or understand her.What am I saying? Of course she can,True thought, her body adrenaline-soaked and ready to fight Bradley and Aiden. Whatever was happening here, it was abundantly clear the woman knew exactly what was going on with True.
The figure was over by Orion’s side in a flash. True wasn’t sure exactly what happened next. One moment she was struggling to pull Bradley off Orion, and the next she was being pushed forward, though she didn’t see who pushed her. A freezing cold spot spread across her back, and then she was propelled forward, her feet scrabbling uselessly on the ground. Afraid she was going to fall, True whirled her arms around, crashing into Orion, her hand—and Wicked Wynona’s heavy skull ring—catching him in the face.
But before she could react tothat,Bradley and Aiden were thrown through the air much as their other two friends had been, landing in a graceless heap on the cold tile floor of the balcony. They looked up at True as if she’d morphed into the Hulk.
“What the hell?” Bradley said, finding his voice first. “Are you on ’roids?”
“’Roids?” True scoffed. “That wasn’t me who pushed you, though not for want of trying. It was her—” She stopped abruptly, her finger pointing at nothing. Once again, the woman in the silver dress had disappeared without a trace.
“Yeah, right, freak,” Bradley said, though True noticed he said it quietly, to himself, as he brushed his clothes off.
“It wasn’t!” True found herself insisting, though why she wanted Bradley to believe her, she didn’t know. She gestured toward the empty space where the woman in the dress had been. “This is important—”
A sudden leering grin on Bradley’s face got broader as he glanced over his shoulder at his two buddies, who were now also grinning back. Because True knew them, she could see the hint of uncertainty in their supposed-to-be-confident smiles. They’d gotten to their feet and were adjusting their clothes, too, but surreptitiously, as if they didn’t want to show how unsettled they really were. Aiden wandered back over to Wicked Wynona and put his arm around her, as if eager to prove he wasn’t at all cowed by what had just happened.
“See what I mean?” Bradley said to his friends, and they nodded enthusiastically.
Turning back to True, seeming empowered by her attention, he continued: “Everything’salways important to you, True. Doesn’t matter what it is—climate change, females in male-dominated careers, whether aliens are real, Fenrir’s freaking Paradox. Everything’s such a big deal. That’s why I broke up with you. Guys don’t like high-maintenance girls.” He leaned down to her, blowing his beery breath all over her face as he spoke slowly, exaggeratedly. “Calm. Down.”
It was like a red filter had been slammed down on the world. True was vaguely aware that Orion had turned to face her and Bradley and was opening his mouth to say something, probablyin defense of her. But she didn’t need him. She could handle this on her own.
Her words wanted to erupt from her like cannonballs, riddling Bradley with holes until he was nothing but a pile of smoking, shredded boy. But she forced herself to speak slowly, authoritatively, clearly. All the things he had failed at.
True held up one finger. “Number one: it’s theFermiParadox. Unless a really big, scary wolf is confused about something.” At his befuddled look, she continued: “Read a book sometime, Bradley. It might help. Number two:Ibroke up withyou,and you know damn well that I did. And number three: thanks. Thanks for being a gigantic asswipe. Thanks for validating every single thing I’ve been marinating over since we broke up—that you’re a toxic, vile, trash dump of a human. I’m so lucky I woke up when I did.”
When she paused for breath, Bradley opened his mouth like he might begin to talk again. Hell, no. This washertime.
True plowed on. “And you know what I realized tonight? That I’m honestly a goddamnhoot.I’m a fun person to be around. Just because you’re too stupid to realize it, just because intelligent women intimidate you, doesn’t say anything at all about me.” She stepped closer to him, making him back up in surprise. His eyes were wide, owlishly so, as if he couldn’t believe she was actually talking back to him. “I willnevercalm down. Also, tell your goddamn friend to give me the goddamn mannequin back, or I will physically remove your balls with my bare hands.”
There was utter silence on the balcony for a good four seconds, while all the boys processed everything True had said—and probably thought back to just a few minutes ago when “she’d”tossed them all around the balcony like a couple of rag dolls. Then Bradley blinked and cleared his throat, stepping back from her again. “Yo, Aiden,” he called, not meeting True’s eye. “Give her the doll back, man. We don’t need this bullshit.”
