and grabbed my hand, lifting it and focusing on the bronze band below it.
“It’s fecking smashed,” she said. Then she spotted the ink on my skin. She gently twisted my wrist and looked close at the runes. “That’s fecking brilliant,” she said, looking at me with a funny expression that made me nervous. Britta, too, was staring at me.
“Ah, Declan, I’m hoping that ye understand when I told them not to take these off before… ya know? Right after the assault. I was thinking that if anyone had done that to me, take my power and beat me up, that I’d fecking want to smash them. I dinnae want ye to lash out and be left with anything unfortunate on yer soul,” Ryanne said, looking uncertain.
You made the right call, I wrote on my pad. Unfortunate indeed.
“Exactly. Any of us would. I doubt Jenks would have used you as an example if he knew what ye were capable of. It might be time for ye to stop hiding yer strength,” she said.
Oh, it’s long past that. But hey, a new week starts Monday, right?
“Declan, I don’t think anyone expects ye to class on Monday,” Ryanne said, looking me over. My skin, the part not covered by bandage wraps, was turning a deep purple over much of my torso and face.
I’ll be there.
“Okay, well that’ll be smashing, but don’t be going if yer ribs and jaw are still all a mess, alright?” she asked, standing up.
“Hope you feel better soon, O’Carroll,” Britta said, maybe actually meaning it.
“Right then. We’re off,” Ryanne said with a big smile at me and a wave to Mack. The girls left in a swirl of perfumed air and when the door had shut and locked itself, Mack turned to me. “See, that girl really likes you,” he said. “And Britta seems a lot nicer than her sister. Just as hot, but nicer.”
So you like the tall blonde types or the smaller Asian types? I asked.
“Oh, I like all types. I don’t believe in discriminating, Declan. It’s an ugly concept and I’m so not about that,” he said smugly.
I lay back, sipping my shake, and thought about the visit. As painful as the fight had been, both physically and esteem-wise, at least one new friend had stood out. She’d understood. I’d wanted to kill them so bad, right at that point where I was most helpless. Delwood and Jenks both. Part of me still did, still wanted me to sink back, close my eyes, and send my power outward to find them. To silently burn out their hearts or brains, or drop the ceiling of their room on them. Maybe short out a nearby appliance and send thousands of high amperage volts through their bodies until even their werewolf healing was overwhelmed. My short read-through of mother’s grimoire had shown me the section I was interested in, but I’d also seen sections on massive war spells, magic of mass destruction. It was there, waiting for use. But my reasoning side said no. It spoke logically of carefully, strategically crafted responses that would get my revenge and show the rest of the school a much different side of me than what they’d seen today.
“Listen. It’s our first Friday at college and apparently there’s a whole bunch of off-campus parties happening. The gang wants to see if we can get into any of them. But I can stay and hang with you, if you want?” Mack offered, almost twitching as he checked himself in the mirror.
Can’t rest if you’re here banging around the room. Better if you go out.
“Well, that’s true. It probably won’t be much fun without you, but at least it’ll be quiet here, right?” he said, zooming around the room, changing his shirt, and spraying an obnoxious amount of Axe body scent on himself and his clothes.
There was another knock on the door and when I opened it, Ashley, Ariel, Jetta, Justin, T.J., and Caeco were all there. They crowded in with a burst of overwhelming noise and confusion, asking about me, hoping I was feeling better, full of excitement to go out. Jetta checked me over like she knew something about medicine. Turned out she’d helped the vet treat her family’s horses and picked up a thing or two. After a moment or two, she herded the others out, leaving just Caeco and me.
My girlfriend was still acting awkward around me but had taken a clinical approach, sort of an efficient caregiver thing. She fluffed