Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) - By Michelle Rowen Page 0,72

I want to find things out, I find things out. Nothing stops me. I talked to the police—I told them about Eva, but they don’t think it’s anything worth investigating.” She let out a strangled cry of frustration. “So annoying! They think Julie was some kid depressed over a guy who decided she was finished living. But it’s not true. I lost her. And I—I lost Stephen. I’m losing everyone I love.”

Hearing her pain so acutely, with no filters, made my own heart start to ache. And she didn’t even know the truth about Stephen. To her, he was just a jerk who’d dumped her with no explanation, not a guy who’d broken up with her to try to save her life. “I’m so sorry. Really. Maybe you should see the guidance counselor again. She might be able to help you.”

She composed herself, rubbing her eyes, and stroking her red hair back from her face to tuck it behind her ears. “I don’t need help. I need answers.”

We had that much in common. The sheer determination I saw on her face worked to nudge mine back into consciousness this morning, like downing three espressos in a row.

But I worried that she was chasing her tail, and all she’d get from her frenzied search for the truth was more disappointment. “You honestly think that modeling scout did something to Julie? Like...she took away her will to live? With, like, a single touch?”

“Yeah.” Jordan fixed me with a bleak, scared look that betrayed her usual calm, cool bitchiness. “That’s exactly what I think she did.”

Then she was gone.

I watched her walk away, part of me wanting to stop her. If I tried, I knew I’d fail. She was bound and determined to play Nancy Drew over this mystery.

If Julie had been kissed by a gray, then I might be able to wrap my head around an outside influence changing her personality. But it wouldn’t have happened that fast.

Jordan had her own path to follow, and nothing I said would have stopped her.

Part of me wanted to worry about her—the other part knew I had enough to deal with without adding this to my list. What I really needed was to find balance in my life again, even if it was only for a few hours of school. Here I was normal. Out there...I wasn’t.

Bishop always talked about balance and how important it was to the universe. Well, the balance of me being a perfect student with me being the daughter of a demon and an angel, as well as a gray with the dark hunger I dealt with daily...

Yeah. I desperately needed to restore my balance. Maybe then I could figure everything else out.

Over the next two hours, the halls slowly began to fill with kids, moving to their lockers, heading for first period. Outside my English class, Kelly caught up with me, grabbing my arm before I went into the room.

“You going to Noah’s party tomorrow night?” she asked, her face flushed. She was rarely early for any class, and I knew she always peeled into the parking lot with literally minutes to spare.

“Oh, right. The Halloween thing at his house?” I asked.

She nodded excitedly. “But it’s not at his house anymore. He’s found an even better place for it. It’s going to be amazing.”

“Sounds...amazing,” I forced out.

“I’ll email you the deets when I get them. There’s literally going to be, like, two hundred people there. I’m going as Aphrodite. Sabrina’s going as a witch, which is so expected, really.” She rolled her eyes, but her smile didn’t fade. “You should be a cat. Like, a sexy cat.”

A sexy cat. Right. Kelly knew me so well. “Great. I’ll, um, think about it. Okay?”

Halloween costumes and parties...not on my priority list this week.

Kelly sped away down the hall toward her Trig class, and I entered my English class. My eyes were drawn immediately to Colin, slouched in his seat behind my desk. I approached cautiously, trying as hard as I could to ignore the hunger that grew with each step. I clutched my books and binder tight to my chest.

He looked upset, pale. I hoped he wasn’t still blaming himself for Julie’s suicide. He’d made some dumb choices, but he hadn’t been the one to push her. She’d jumped of her own free will.

At least, I thought she had. Jordan had other ideas about that.

Jordan was right about one very important thing—there were weird things going on in Trinity right now. That