Cissy gives my hand a pat. “Sure there was. That’s why you asked me your hypothetical question on the car ride home.”
“What hypothetical?”
“You know. About wanting to kiss someone?” She rolls her eyes.
I inwardly groan. She thought that conversation was about Zeke, not Lincoln. Is there really any point to telling her the truth? I’m not going to get honest advice anyway.
Zeke chooses that moment to sashay up to table. “Hello, lovelies. Are we ready to go?”
Cissy holds up her pointer finger. “Not yet. Myla wants to tell me something.”
My gaze shifts between Cissy and her new beau. There is zero point in discussing Lincoln right now. They aren’t going to believe it, and I’ll never see the creep again anyway. “No, I’m good.”
“Are you sure there isn’t anything else?” Cissy taps her chin. “Your Mom, maybe?”
Damn, she’s good. “What makes you say that?”
“I know my Myla-la.”
Hmm. Maybe I should spill my guts about Verus, the dreamscapes, and how Dad’s a ghoul. Hey Cissy, you know how I’m a part-Furor, freaky-tailed, wrath-filled Arena fighter? Now we can add part-ghoul to the list, with an oracle Angel Queen stalker.
Ah, no. “There’s some stuff going on, but I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.”
Cissy frowns. “Okay. Whenever you’re ready.”
Zeke rubs his hands together. “Great, that’s all settled.” He hitches his thumb over his shoulder. “Want to meet the guys?”
I just about fall out of my chair. Zeke wants to take Cissy to meet his friends? He never takes anyone to meet his boys, at least not during daylight. Zeke hangs with the most notorious hotties in school and everyone knows there’s an invisible ‘no girls allowed’ sign over their lunch table. The fact that he’s inviting her to visit is nothing less than monumental.
“We’re ready.” Cissy grips my arm like she’ll rip it out of the socket. “Like I told you, Myla wants to go too.”
“I do?” Wow, I have zero desire to expose myself to Zeke and his lust-bunny brigade. Plus, I’m not one of those ‘I can’t eat by myself’ types. I can live without Cissy at lunch for one day. “Are you sure you want me to go?” Translation: can I stay here, please?
Cissy hauls me to my feet. “Yes, I’m absolutely, positively sure.”
My upper lip curls. Clearly, I hadn’t thought this whole ‘Cissy and Zeke’ thing through. Their dating changes me from ‘the star of the Cissy show’ to a sideline actress who gets hauled around to fill out the stage. My heart fills with a combination of severe depression and a sudden desire to kick Zeke’s ass.
This. Sucks.
Cissy shoots me a pleading glance. “Come on, sweetie?” I stare into her tawny, innocent eyes and feel my resistance melt away.
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.