“You said I could have her right thigh.”
“We were told we would feast tonight.”
Much to Jay’s equally deadly sounding exasperation.
“Yeah, and that was before I was sure about what she is,” he said. Then he leaned to the side. He peered around Seth, right at her. “And now I am sure, and it’s a lot tastier than lunch, isn’t it, Cassie? Come on, don’t be shy. Come out from behind your boyfriend and show us what you are.”
But oh, she didn’t want to deal with whatever that meant. So she tried going with what Seth had. Something ordinary. Something that made sense. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, and in answer, Jason chuckled mirthlessly.
“And that’s not the point.”
“I don’t care what your point is.”
“Sure you do. That’s why you’re hiding behind him. That’s why he’s trying to hide you. Trying to keep you away from us. Trying to keep you all to himself, just like he did with your grandmother. Because he’s a greedy fuck.”
Oh Jesus, she thought.Is that why Seth wanted to know how Gram died? Because he wondered if these chucklefucks did it?Then felt extremely thankful that it had been indisputably natural causes. Because if it hadn’t?
She felt pretty sure she would have let go of Seth’s arm.
And god only knew what would happen then. The things that were happening now were bad enough. “He doesn’t eat me, if that’swhat you’re implying,” she blurted out, and couldn’t even pretend that nobody had noticed the innuendo. She actually felt Seth go all hot, in a way she knew must be embarrassment. She knew, and couldn’t help fretting about it. Because what if he decided he didn’t like the way she was making him feel? What if he thought, again, that her friendship wasn’t as valuable and cool as theirs? Hell, maybe one of them was even his maker. Maybe he had to obey them somehow.
Which felt wrong as soon as she thought it.
But it still compounded the other issues. It still made her think,then I’ll be on my own.
And this time, it would be against four werewolves. One of whom was still talking in a manipulative, sly sort of way. “Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, he enjoys keeping that magic in you all to himself. Hasn’t so much as said a word to anyone in the community about a brand new witch in our midst.”
And now the other two were gasping.
And after a second they echoed that one word—witch witch witch. They said it over and over, in a way that sounded like leaves rustling.
“That’s not what she is,” Seth tried to say. But it was useless. It was pointless.
“You fucking liar. I can smell it from here,” Jason said. And the others agreed.
“I can see it, I can see it now—look, she’s shiny.”
“Oh my god, she is, she’s got all that stuff on her.”
Jordan pointed, clearly pleased with himself for seeing.
At which point she couldn’t help it.Shelunged forward.
“Yeah, and if you come anywhere near us I’ll get that stuff on you. Because I can do it, you know. I can throw spell bombs and turn you all into frogs. And then guess what? It’s frog-fucking-soup time,” she said, and was gratified to see the two dipshits look at each other worriedly.
Though Jay didn’t seem worried at all.
“She’s a baby. She probably can’t even turn herself into anything yet, never mind us,” he said. Then he seemed to consider. Heseemed to narrow his eyes, before adding, “Though I know one thing she can do, if her boyfriend is any indication. Yeah, if he’s running this hot and not even turning, she can make something that keeps it at bay. Something that heals stuff right.”
And oh, that was bad, that was real bad. Yeah, that was going to be worse than the whole eating thing, and she knew it. She could see it in the way the other two reacted—like they’d been struck by lightning. Tyler actually gasped; Jordan seemed to freeze for a second.
And then the latter just couldn’t seem to contain himself.
He lunged forward again. And this time he did it so violently, and so haphazardly, he actually made it past the calming hand Jay put up. He got all the way to about a foot in front of Seth—close enough that it made a sound kick out of her. It made her step forward, as a million ways to stop him tore through her head.
Yank Seth away, her mind screamed.
Hit him with something, it demanded.
