no sense.”
Shelly shrugged. “Pretty sure being drunk on love and sex will make you spout nonsense.”
Tara’s eyes widened. “So, bonded, married, and sexed?” She whistled. “Wow, BFFF, when you go in, you go all in.”
“I’ve been to hell, Tara-bear. Pretty sure I have every right to go all in considering I could have died or been tied to the devil for all eternity.”
“Okay, what’s all that about?” Tara asked. “You mentioned it yesterday.”
“I’m going to try and give you a synopsis because we don’t exactly have time for a play-by-play recount. Ready?”
“I feel like I should set a timer.” Tara grinned. “Like it’s speed dating.”
“That’s not entirely unlike what actually happened. Except it was speed courting. An entire engagement, with the ubiquitous love triangle, all packed into twenty-four hours.”
Tara raised her eyebrows. “Huh.”
“I got tossed into hell. But I didn’t know it. I just knew that my boobs were burning.”
Tara’s eyebrows came back down, and her brow furrowed. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Dude, this is not going to work if you can’t keep up with the simple stuff. Boobs.” She pointed to her chest. “They were roaring like a bonfire. And I thought, ‘Damn, my house is on fire and I’m roasting like a marshmallow with tatas, and there is nothing I could do about it.’ I was trapped inside my mind and couldn’t wake up. I couldn’t move or anything. All I could do was sit there and burn.”
Tara’s throat suddenly became dry, her stomach did a not-cool-rolling-thing, and she thought she might puke. “It hurt?”
“Like a mother trucker,” Shelly admitted. “It was the worst pain I’d ever felt in my life. I was screaming, but it was only in my mind. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. I swear, T, I don’t ever want to go through anything that awful again.” Shelly paused, and her eyes glazed over as if she were reliving what she’d been describing.
Suddenly, Ra appeared behind Shelly and squatted down until he was shoulder level with her.
“You’re fine, beloved. You’re here, safe, with me and Tara,” he whispered in her ear.
Tara watched the interaction, and, though she didn’t understand how the two had become so close in such a short amount of time, she was very glad that Shelly had Ra. He seemed to genuinely care about her best friend, and Shelly deserved that.
Shelly nodded and leaned into his touch. She patted his face and said, “I’m good. Just got lost for a minute.”
“You’re never lost, Shelly. I can always find you.” He kissed her hair and then went back to the table where the other guys were sitting.
“Damn.” Tara sighed. “He’s just … wow.”
“He’s my Elias,” Shelly said.
“I can see that. And I am so happy for you, Shelly. You deserve a guy who adores you and will give you everything.”
Shelly started to speak again, but the doors to the dining hall opened suddenly and hit the walls with a resounding thud. Every head in the place whipped around to find Zuri and Jax standing in full warrior gear, at least that’s how Tara thought of it, considering it was more than the black uniform she had on. They’d added awesome accessories like knives, guns, and some other things she didn’t recognize but was sure would be used to kick major ass.
“Attention!” Jax bellowed.
“We need all of the students who have been involved in the new inter-school program to head to the training fields,” Zuri announced. “Now!” she yelled when no one moved. The room erupted into noise as chairs shifted and bodies scrambled for the exit.
“Darn.” Shelly sighed. “I had so much more to tell you.”
“And no doubt awesome exaggerations in just the right places,” Tara said as they stood. Elias grabbed her hand, and Ra took Shelly’s as they led them from the room.
“Damn right,” Shelly said, a wide grin spreading across her face.
Tara looked over her shoulder and saw that Aston and Liam followed, though Liam was busy looking around the room. Maybe for a certain redhead. He was so distracted Aston had to keep him from bumping into people.
When they reached Zuri, she held up her hand to stop their group. “You six, double-time it to Headmaster Terrick’s office.”
“Dude, I’ve only been here twenty-four hours, and I’m already being sent to the principal's office?” Shelly asked. “Guess I’m just that good. I get in trouble without even realizing I’m doing it anymore. That takes skill.”
“It takes all the skills.” Tara laughed as the guys picked up their pace, pulling them