I grinned, seeing right through her. “No, you don’t.”
Pouting, she slapped my shoulder playfully. “Okay. There are some things I miss.”
About to tell her that I had a good idea of what that thing was, Dee’s jubilant shriek cut me off. “Katy!” she yelled.
Cursing under my breath, I felt Ash stiffen against me.
“Sit,” Dee said, smacking the top of the table. “We were talking about—”
“Wait.” Ash twisted around. I could picture the look on her face. Lips turned down, eyes narrowed. All that equaled bad, bad times. “You did not invite her to sit with us? Really?”
I focused on the painting of the PHS mascot—a red-and-black Viking, complete with horns. Please don’t sit down.
“Shut up, Ash,” Adam said. “You’re going to make a scene.”
“I’m not ‘going to make’ anything happen.” Ash’s arm tightened around my neck like a boa constrictor. “She doesn’t need to sit with us.”
Dee sighed. “Ash, stop being a bitch. She’s not trying to steal Daemon from you.”
My eyebrows shot up, but I kept up the prayer. Please don’t sit down. My jaw locked. Please don’t sit here. If she did, Ash would eat her alive out of pure spite. I’d never understand girls. Ash didn’t want me anymore, not really, but holy hell if she’d allow someone else to go there.
Ash’s body started to vibrate softly. “That’s not what I’m worried about. For real.”
“Just sit,” Dee said to Katy, her voice tight with exasperation. “She’ll get over it.”
“Be nice,” I whispered in Ash’s ear, low enough for only her to hear. Ash smacked my arm hard. That’d leave a bruise. I pressed my cheek into her neck. “I mean it.”
“I’ll do what I want,” she hissed back. And she would, too. Worse than what she was doing now.
“I don’t know if I should,” Kat said, sounding incredibly small and unsure.
Every stupid, idiotic thought in my head demanded that I dump Ash out of my lap and get Kat out of here, away from what surely was going to end up being horrible.
“You shouldn’t,” Ash snapped.
“Shut up,” Dee said. “I’m sorry I know such hideous bitches.”
“Are you sure?” Kat asked.
Ash’s body trembled and heated up. Her skin would be too warm for a human to touch without realizing something was different, wrong even. I could feel her control slipping away. Exposing herself wasn’t likely, but she appeared mad enough to do some damage.
I turned my head to look at Kat for the first time since I’d seen her in the line. I thought about the conversation on the porch, when she grinned at me. I thought about how she reacted when I’d told her about the legend of Snowbird. And I already knew I was going to hate myself for what I was about to say, because she didn’t deserve this. “I think it’s obvious if you’re wanted here or not.”
“Daemon!” My sister’s eyes filled with tears, and now it was official. I was irrevocably a dick. “He’s not being serious.”
“Are you being serious, Daemon?” Ash twisted toward me.
My gaze held Kat’s, and I clamped down on every confusing and contradictory thought I was having. She needed to leave before something shitty happened. “Actually, I was being serious. You’re not wanted here.”
Kat opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. Her cheeks had been pink—the way I liked them—but the color faded quickly. Anger and embarrassment filled her gray eyes. They glistened under the harsh lights of the cafeteria. A sharp pierce sliced through my chest, and I had to look away—because I had put that look in her eyes. Clenching my jaw, I focused over Ash’s shoulder on that stupid mascot again.
In that moment, I wanted to punch myself in the face.
“Run along,” Ash said.
A few snickers sounded and anger whipped through me, heating my skin. It was ridiculous that I was pissed over other people laughing when I’d already embarrassed her and hurt her more than anyone.
Silence fell over the table, and relief was imminent. She had to be leaving now. There was no way—
Cold, wet, and sloppy stuff plopped on the top of my head. I froze, aware enough not to open my mouth unless I wanted to eat…spaghetti? Did she…? Sauce-covered noodles slid down my face, landing on my shoulder. One hung off my ear, smacking me against the neck.
Holy shit. I was dumbfounded as I slowly turned to look at her. Part of me was actually…amazed.
Ash leaped from my lap, shrieking as she shoved her hands out. “You… You…”
I plucked one of the noodles off my ear and dropped it on the table as I peered up at Kat from underneath my lashes. The laugh came up before I could stop it. Good for her.
Ash lowered her hands. “I will end you.”
My humor vanished. Jumping up, I threw an arm around Ash’s waist. “Calm down. I mean it. Calm down.”