***
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Muriel again until lunch. I had another vision. The poor freshman girl I’d saved from certain embarrassment last week was back on the bullies’ to-embarrass-and-harass list. They just wouldn’t leave her alone.
This time, I just stood in front of their table with my hands planted on my hips until she passed by.
As the vision receded, I saw Chay walk toward me. I shot him a glare. I didn’t need his help. Nothing the oafs said about me, or to me, mattered. I was focused on the poor target of their amusement. She didn’t deserve it. I remembered how hard it was being a freshman. She didn’t need any additional heartache.
When the girl—I’d learned her name was Susie—walked safely by and sat with her friends at the other end of the cafeteria, I gripped the edge of the bullies’ table and leaned forward, showing them just enough cleavage to grab their attention.
“Listen up. Find someone your own size and low IQ to pick on, but leave that freshman alone,” I said quietly.
“Or what?” the biggest idiot asked.
“I’ll hurt you.”
The hulking teenager stood to his full height. He was a good head taller than I was and twice as wide. My first instinct was to apologize, beg forgiveness, and run away. But I stood my ground.
“Oh, sit down before you embarrass yourself,” I snapped, thankful my voice didn’t quiver. “I’ve got a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, and I’ve studied Krav Maga. Your dumb ass doesn’t scare me.” Smirking, I walked away. I had to remind myself to walk, not run, to where Muriel sat.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Oh, they have this thing for little Susie Freshman over there. I keep having visions of them doing embarrassing things to her, and I’m sick of them. The visions make me feel weird and tire me out, and the boys make my skin crawl. So I just told them to back off.” I shrugged a shoulder, unwrapped my chicken salad sandwich, and pulled the sides of the bread apart to inspect it before taking a bite.
“That wasn’t very smart.” I knew the voice instantly. I didn’t have to look up to know I’d see the oddest eyes looking at me. Not quite blue and not quite green. Chay.
“I had to do something—”
“You only have to do what needs to be done to right the wrong and make the vision go away.”
“I’ve had the same vision about them hurting that girl before. I’m tired of spending my lunch finding new ways to step in without being obvious.”
“Oh, and threatening them wasn’t obvious?” He flung his arm toward their table.
“You threatened them?” Muriel’s eyes grew wide. “They’re huge!”
“I didn’t threaten them. I just warned them away. Maybe now the girl will have some peace.”
“And maybe you just angered a demon,” Chay said through clenched teeth. “They’re hard enough to deal with. We don’t need you going around making more trouble for us. We don’t know who works for Azazel. Do you understand that? It could be anyone in this school—from the principal to the janitor, even your pet freshman over there. So do me a favor and don’t antagonize anyone else. Your job is to step in and protect humans. My job is to protect you until your birthday, and I don’t need you making my job any harder than it already is.” He pushed away from the table and stalked out of the cafeteria.
Geez, even angry, he’s a hella-hottie. Wait. No, that’s Jake. “Well.” I cleared my throat. “That got him talking.”
Muriel laughed, but her eyes looked worried. “He’s right, Milayna. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“Okay. I’ll keep a leash on my temper from now on. I promise.” I looked down at the fake wooden tabletop. I ran my finger along the words “Charlie loves Anna” written in black marker. I didn’t really see the words. I saw the faces of people I knew with horns and fangs. I saw Jonathan, my supervisor at the bakery, turning into a demon, and the little old lady who lived two doors down in the cute, yellow house growing fangs. My parents always warned me not to talk to strangers when I was little, but now I couldn’t trust anyone. A shiver ran up my spine. “I promise. I’ll be more careful.” I glanced up at Muriel. She gave me a quick smile. “What do you know about him?”
“Who? Mr. Dark and Brooding?” I nodded, not looking at her. “Uh, nothing you don’t already know. He’s smart, at least judging by his AP classes. His dad’s the “A”. He’s eighteen, and he has an unusual gift none of us have, but no one knows why.”
“Yeah, the ability to see when one of the group is in danger. Why do you say it’s unusual? Don’t we all have powers?” I whispered, leaning my head close to Muriel’s.
“We all have the same visions you do, only you have them a lot more often and they are a lot stronger because your dad was a stronger, higher-ranking Iri. But beyond that ability, most of us don’t have other gifts.”