“I do. And Hades agrees,” he whispers, now leaning closer. “So, get the hell out of my room. From now on, blondes are banned from entering. So, leave before I throw you in the bin, and trust me, I will.”
“You’re a blond, too, idiot,” I snap, just as there’s a knock on the door.
“Theo?”
We both glance at the door, and I recognise Aunty Raven’s voice. I smile up at him. “Agree, or I scream and tell them your truth,” I threaten.
“You-”
“Would,” I whisper, finishing his sentence.
His jaw clenches, and he nods at me. “Fine.” He then glances at the door. “Yeah, Ma?”
“We have guests, come down and spend time with them. Don’t be rude by staying in your room.”
“Sure, there’s just a giant slug in my room that I need to squish first,” Theo says, looking right at me.
Slug… I’ll show you slugs.
I roll my eyes, waiting for his mom to leave.
“Alright,” she sighs, “Just hurry up.” I hear her moving away and look at Theo.
“So, when will you ask for a meeting?”
“Don’t push it,” he replies, casting me a withering look.
“I’m not, I’m enquiring.”
“It’ll take a couple of days, make it a week. Now, leave before I throw you into the trash can outside.”
“Not that you would succeed, but that works, and if you back out… Well then, I won’t be giving you another warning. I’ll be going straight to the elders.” With that, I sit on his windowsill and flip my legs out before I whisper a spell and jump, slowing seconds before I reach the ground, landing softly on my feet.
I hear his window snap shut and shake my head.
I think Allie still needs to talk to him, just in case.
“So, how’d that go?”
I turn and spot Allie in the shadows of the trees lining the garden. “I’m not sure; he lies a lot.”
“Yeah, I have a plan. We’ll put it into action, but we need to find a way to actually stay longer,” she says. “By the way, did you realise I was here, because otherwise you did pretty well not reacting.”
“Thank you. Although I should have noticed you.” I walk over to her, slipping my heels back on and cross my arms. “So, what is your plan?”
A Price to Pay
Heaven
“And there you have it,” Allie finishes as I stare at her. The plan is extreme and painful. I almost feel sorry for the idiot – ‘almost’ being the keyword.
“Well, as long as no one gets in trouble.”
“Na, we’ve always done stuff. The Westwood side of my family gets physical far more often and more violently; it’s totally normal. The Rossi side just has attitude and crass language.”
I smile faintly. “Well, I can’t deny that, but my father was a charmer, though.”
“True, true. Chris was too damn good for the Rossis.”
