me wrong, she’s not as cruel and conniving as some of the other girls at this school, but I have no doubt she’ll sacrifice Katrina in a heartbeat if it gets her what she wants. She’s so fucking vain and selfish that she’ll spend all her time staring at her reflection on the water’s surface. One day, it’s going to drown her.
“Stace invited me to a party this Friday,” Katrina confesses, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear. Another delicate blush erupts on her cheeks.
“Oh.” That isn’t what I expected her to say.
Katrina and…parties? That’s like water and gasoline. My girl is not the type to go party.
And you’re going? Kastros signs, seeming just as confused as I am.
“I mean, why not? In just a few months, I’m going to graduate. And Stacy’s my best friend. I promised her I’ll go to this one.” She smiles softly, the barest twitch of lips. “Besides, the last party I went to, I summoned you five. Maybe I’ll summon more sexy demons?” When Kastros and I begin to growl threateningly, she holds up her hands in mock innocence, giggling softly. “I’m kidding!”
“It’s not safe,” I growl out, hating to be that guy. “With the angels and your parents—”
“I won’t be alone,” she assures me. She pauses, nibbling on her lower lip, before adding, “I need this, Raz. I can’t keep living my life in fear. I need to feel…normal.”
Guilt pricks my heart like a thousand needles. I know that Katrina loves us, but I can’t help but feel we’re destroying her life. Before us, she wasn’t hunted. She didn’t have to fear for her life.
But she also lived with abusive assholes who would’ve destroyed both her and Adam until they could no longer be the people we recognize and love now.
“If Zolroth’s feeling better, he can come with me!” Katrina adds, knowing that I’ll relent. “And maybe even Akor.” She winces, no doubt thinking about all of the crazy shit he could get up to if I wasn’t around to reel him in. “Okay, maybe not.”
“The rest of us won’t be able to come,” I point out, hating these societal norms and fucking rules. I wish I could scream our love from the rooftops, confess it to everyone who’s around to listen. I’m praying for the day Katrina graduates and we can move on with our lives. As a family.
“Raz…”
“It’s on Friday,” I say gruffly. “We’ll talk about it then. But for now…” I lean forward and steal her backpack from her, placing it over my own shoulder. Kastros reaches for her hand. She attempts to tug it free, glancing in both directions anxiously, but the halls are empty at this time of day. “Let’s go home, baby girl.”
16
Zolroth
I’ve been pasting a smile on my face for nearly a week, faking a carefree attitude any time someone asks how I’m doing, but today, for the first time, I feel like myself again. The ache in my ribs is still there, that might last a while, but the rest of me has healed up pretty decently. It’s actually made me a smidge more sympathetic toward humans, who don’t heal quickly. This lying around bit I’ve been forced to do is awful stuff. But…now that I’m feeling better, I get to enjoy the benefits of said infirmity—Amazon just delivered the fifty pairs of shoes I ordered myself.
Question is, how do I get them all inside without Jason and the entire menagerie destroying them?
I’m standing in the front doorway of our townhome, debating what to do as the delivery guy’s resentful back retreats back to his dark blue van.
Jason slides across the floor behind me in socks—thankfully, the zombie-dog-man hasn’t started to shun clothes—but all too soon, I feel a bump against my shoulder. And there he is, beside me. “Whatcha doing? Huh?” he asks as his ass shakes side to side faster than Shakira’s. “Are those…are those…SHOES!” He squeals the last word in utter excitement.
I slam the door shut. “Nope.” I’d rather have the neighbors steal all my beautiful, hand-crafted Italian leather shoes than watch Jason gnaw a pair to death again.
He and I end up in a stare off. He knows I’m lying, but I rank higher than he does. Behind us, three dogs go tearing down the hall, chasing after Kator. The little furball comes to a dead stop for no apparent reason and lets out a vicious hiss. All three dogs skitter to a stop, and I can’t help but