I straighten my shoulders. “Of course, let’s go.”
“You’re the best.” Cissy loops her arm around mine. Together, we walk across the lunchroom to a table filled with very handsome guys who have names like Chip, Tripp, and Bif. All of them have smirky smiles, muscle-bound chests, and no need for demon lust in order to attract the opposite sex. Yet, they can’t seem to get a word out without working their thang. The conversation’s boring stuff, like school and the weather, but these guys say every word with a sultry voice while their eyes flare red. Every other girl within a twenty-foot radius peeps at them and blushes.
Except me.
I shake my head. Maybe I just inherited the wrath side of the Furor ‘lust and wrath’ combo. Another thought slams into me, this one far, far worse. Since I’m part ghoul, I might only be attracted to ghoul guys. That realization is depressing, repulsive, and, unfortunately, all too possible.
Eew, eew, eew.
***
“Myla, you’ve been called to serve.”
Yawning, I open my eyes. Two weeks have passed since I last fought in the Arena. Since that day, Cissy and Zeke have become the poster children for public displays of affection, Mom’s stepped up her morning interrogations, and I haven’t gotten a single new dreamscape from Verus. Life has certainly taken a nosedive.
Man, do I ever need to kill something.
Walker stands at the foot of my bed. I roll over, stretch, and peep at my Darth Vader alarm clock. 5 AM on the nose.
“Hey, Walker.” I sit up straight. “How pumped am I that you’re here?”
Walker’s mouth winds into a grin. “Very pumped, obviously.”
“I’ve been itching for a match for weeks.” I throw back the covers and hop to my feet. “Wait. You don’t think this’ll be another match like the last one, do you? If I see another good human sacrifice herself to Hell, I swear I won’t be able to stop myself from doing something.”
“I’ve been assured you have a suitably awful opponent today.”
“Sweet!” I pause, folding my arms over my chest. “Wait a second. I have a bone to pick with you.”
“A bone? Oh my.” He winks.
“Stop being cute and sarcastic.” I waggle my finger in his face. “I have it on good authority that you know exactly who I am. You’ve been holding out on me, Walker.”
“The night of the Ryder party.” He tilts his head to one side. “You were listening under the window, weren’t you?”
“Damn straight I was.” My inner demon starts to stir. Anger pools in my blood. “Now, spill your guts. Exactly what do you know about who I am?”
“I know you’re like a sister to me, and I’d never do anything to hurt you.” He sighs. “If I don’t tell you things, it’s because I can’t.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “I’ve heard that one before.” I stare into his liquid-black eyes and, damn, he does look like he wants to tell me everything. My anger quiets. I really do think he’d spill his guts if he could.
Crap. It would be so much easier if I could just yell at him for a while.
“I do have some news I can share with you today.” He points to a large box by his feet. “This is for you, from Verus. She’s taken quite the interest in your welfare.”
I crouch to the floor and tear open the box; smooth black fabric shines inside. “A real combat suit!” I turn the garment over in my hands, it’s like a unitard made of flexible steel that’s topped with a mesh hood. “This thing is amazing.”
Walker rocks on his heels, grinning ear to ear. “Do you want to try it on?”
I grip the suit to my chest. “Are you kidding?” I leap to my feet. “You didn’t tell Mom about this thing, right?”
“Nope.”
“Then don’t say a word. I want to surprise her.”
“As you wish.”
I rush into the bathroom and slip on my new garment of awesomeness. The mesh hood is especially badass. My heart thumps happily in my chest as I tiptoe down the hallway and peep around the doorway to the kitchen. Mom’s back is to me as she rattles around the cabinets. Walker sips java at the table.
Perfect. Neither of them sees me.
Taking a deep breath, I pause outside the kitchen doorway, my back flattened to the wall for optimum stealthy-ness.
“Hey, Mom. Don’t move, okay?”
Mom’s voice sounds from inside the kitchen. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I swear. Can you close your eyes?”
“Sure, honey.”
I creep to her side. “You can look now.” Her chocolate eyes pop open. “Ta-daaaaa!” I whip the off the mesh hood for extra drama.
Mom’s hand leaps to her mouth. “My word!”
“Isn’t it awesome?” I twirl around. “It’s a gift from the angels.” I karate kick the air to demonstrate the suit in action. A bubble of new-garment happiness surrounds me.
Stepping to my side, Mom runs her hands over the fabric on my arm. “This isn’t Kevlar, it’s something else. Maybe–”
Walker finishes her thought. “Dragon scales.”