“You are full-on avoiding me,” she said curtly.
I felt awful, unsure how to delicately address this, but the time had come.
“I’m sorry.” I started with the most important thing. “Do you know why the bricks at school are black?” I asked her.
She frowned, her eyebrows forming a knot in the middle of her forehead. “They’ve always been that way.”
I shook my head. “No, they haven’t, do you know how they got black?”
“No.” She shrugged.
“My birth mother, Marissa Bane, went dark and scorched the entire school while pregnant with me, killing one hundred and seventeen students.”
Eden winced, glancing away from me at the grass, clearly unsure what to say.
“You’re not her,” she said feebly.
I reached out with my gloved hand and grasped hers. “Not yet, E. But one day I might be and I would never be able to live with myself if I harmed a hair on your head.”
She squeezed my hand, hard, and looked up at me. “You wouldneverhurt me.”
“Not intentionally,” I told her.
“You. Would. Never. Hurt. Me,” she growled, holding my gaze.
Damn, this woman was stubborn.
I sighed. “Eden, being my best friend isn’t good for you. I’m not saying we don’t hang out ever again, but you should go make other friends.”
She rolled her eyes, dropping my hand like a hot stone. “Oh, shut up. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” She held out her hand, palm up, and Yanric flew from his perch on the tree and landed on it, eating the seeds from her bread crust that she offered him.
“Besides, Yanric loves me. He would be devastated if I didn’t give him his afternoon snack every day,” she added.
‘It’s true.’
I chuckled at that, shaking my head in disbelief. “So, no matter what I say, you’re not going to listen?”
“Nope.” She popped thepand gave me a big, gummy smile. “You’re stuck with me.”
My heart swelled in that moment. As much as I had wanted to push Eden away and have her take the bait, I’m glad she didn’t. “Okay, but if at any time I feel like I am going dark and a danger to you or anyone at this school, I’m gone.”
Her brows drew together again. “Don’t say that.”
I popped a piece of pork in my mouth. “I said it.”
“Don’t ever ignore me like that again. From now on when things get scary, we work through it together,” she scolded me.
“Okay.” I breathed a little easier knowing I had someone on my side, even if I was worried I would one day hurt her.
She grinned. “Okay, now that that’s settled. Did I see you and Ariyon coming out of a closet this morning?”
I blushed at the sudden subject change. “That was nothing.”
“Didn’t look like nothing.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “He hugged me. Like…a real hug. The kind I can’t do for fear of getting hurt.”
“Awww,” she swooned but I cut her off.
