Elias scoffs. “That or hanging around Ean and Emily finally rubbed off on you.”
“Could be both,” I offer.
Chris laughs and wags his finger. “Anyway, let’s return to the issue at hand. What you just did was risky. You could very well have given up your position with the guard.”
It was on the line anyway. I meant what I said. I can’t follow him if he doesn’t believe in himself, in his daughter. I can’t support his way of thinking, not when it gambles Jessica’s life.
A soft shifting sound comes from just outside the classroom door. The room goes still as we glance toward it.
“I’m really going to miss my new watch,” I say. “I better go pack my apartment.” I cock my head to the door. “Thanks for trying to talk me out of it, but I meant what I said.” I wink and transport to my studio on the training territory.
I pace in my small studio apartment. I’ve lived here for years. Giving it up permanently hurts. But, for Jessica, I will do whatever it takes to help her. Doubt creeps in. Anders is fucking stubborn.
Do you think this will work?I ask the voice in my head.
He tried to contain it, but I could sense a hint of fear. He cares about you like a son. Losing you will hurt.
Then why is he being so stubborn?
He surrounds himself with so much fear when it comes to Jessica. Deep down, he knows everyone is right. He’ll come around.
Chapter 32
Dramatic? Me?
JESSICA
Seven Years Ago
Sixes yanks on my hair as she works through one of the knots with a brush. “You really need to start conditioning your hair,” she grumbles. “Or brush it daily, at least.”
“I do,” I groan.
Emily snorts from her sitting position on my bed, still reading the shifters magazine she brought with her. “Sure, you do, except for the last three days or so now.”
I don’t answer her. She’s right. I don’t think I even showered or brushed my teeth, and I barely ate. I cried and moped around my bedroom. The lab results felt like a blow to my heart, and I processed it after my absolute failure of an interview.
What sealed the deal of my self-imposed travesty was the letter Anders delivered that night. My rejection letter. I expected it, but the reality hit me so hard. It became the last straw. I waffled between angry tears and heartbreaking ones. He didn’t even give me a day.
This morning, Sixes and Emily reached their limit. They literally picked me up by the arms and threw me in the shower, clothes and all. They instructed I was not allowed out until I used soap.
Emily slaps the magazine closed and throws it over the couch. It slides along my coffee table and lands on the floor.
“She’s not going to pick it up,” Sixes whispers, making me laugh. She shuffles up on her knees and raises her arms triumphantly in the air, shaking her fists to the ceiling. “Finally, some life. She’s alive! She’s alive!”
“Dramatic,” I huff.
Her mouth drops open in surprise, and she points to her chest. “Dramatic? Me? Says the girl who went down the self-destruction spiral after receiving some bad news.”
I look to Sixes’s reflection in my vanity mirror, and she rolls her eyes. I swivel around to face her and fold my arms. “That’s not fair!”
“Hear me out. Yes, it sucks. You may never shift, and I get that you maybe wanted a child of your own one day. I don’t see why anyone would want one, but hey, to each their own. I’m just saying…” Emily throws her arms out from her sides.
“So not helping,” Sixes chortles, waving the brush back and forth in her hand.
“Fine. That’s just my personal opinion. The point is it’s not the end of the world. I know it feels like it right now, but you have so many things going for you.” She ticks them off on her fingers. “You’re still a badass. You have magic. You have an amazing career as a songwriter, and so many of us here love you no matter what. You’re seventeen. Destroying your life, giving up because of one shitty thing, will just make you miserable, regretful, and spiteful. So help me, if you turn into a replica of Elaine Powers, I will kick your sorry, miserable ass every day.”
“Just when I thought you were doing so well.” Sixes sighs and turns to face me. “Anyway, we gave you time to grieve. Now it’s time for you to pull yourself together and figure out what you want to do.”
