Chapter 19

Shea

I had been debating all morning whether to share my magical news with my best friend, but as she came up to greet me with a hug, I was still firmly on the fence.

Because telling her about the grimoire would mean telling her how I got it. I had made a deal with a vampire. After vampires had killed her mom, she probably wouldn't take that news lightly—hell, who would?

I already felt like a huge traitor for trusting Julian and for being so damned attracted to him, too. There were lots of things wrong with our arrangement, and yet, I didn't have it in me to stop. He'd been telling the truth about the grimoire, and I also believed he'd been honest about having leverage where the school was involved.

Though how, I couldn't imagine. If shifters hated my kind so passionately, how could they make an alliance with a vampire? Who at that school could Julian have ties to? No way in hell it was that prude mermaid teacher. And the way Caesar had talked about vampires the first night I met him, it was a pretty safe bet it wasn't him, either.

Caesar. That was another thing I hadn't told Arya about: the fact that I had a pretty significant and pitiful crush on her school director. And that we'd both seen each other naked at this point. And that, if his erection the other night was any indication, he was pretty damn into me, too, even if he wouldn't admit it.

So when Arya pulled away from our hug and asked, "How're things going?" my only response was, "Same old, same old."

"Let's grab some lunch before we get started," Ashlyn suggested as we started walking down the mile. "If I shop on an empty stomach, I'm going to make some really bad choices."

"Good idea," I said. Bad choices were kinda my thing these days, and if filling my belly could prevent them, I was all for it. And it would give Arya and I a chance to talk, even if I had no idea what exactly to tell her.

We settled on a pizza place called By The Slice, which was just an ordering window along the street where you could order a single slice of pizza with literally any topping you could think of. We each placed our orders and waited at a cafe table in the sitting area on the corner of the building for our slices to come out.

Mine came out first, a huge slice smothered in so much pepperoni and cheese that both were flooding into a pool on my plate. Ashlyn came back next with what looked like boneless wings drenched in buffalo sauce. We dug into our food as we waited for Arya to come back.

"Omigod, this is so good!" I moaned as I chewed with my cheeks stuffed, the spices and tang of the pepperoni giving me a mouth-gasm. "My cheese is so stringy I could twirl it around a fork like spaghetti."

"I know! This pizza is so incredible, I think it just got me pregnant," Ashlyn groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head and her eyelids twitching slightly.

I snorted chewed pizza into the back of my throat as a laugh burst out of me, making me choke and fight a coughing fit.

Arya sat down between us, the top of her slice covered in questionable gray and reeking like an old gym bag.

"Good lord, what the fuck is that?" I sputtered as I still struggled to swallow after choking.

She looked defensively up at me and shrugged. "What? As a mermaid, I'm supposed to have more fish in my diet, so I ordered double anchovies."

My throat tightened with a gag for a new reason, and I held up a hand. "I'm sorry, Arya. You're my best friend, but that's disgusting."

She smiled as she lifted her slice to her mouth. "Looks good to me." She took a bite, swooning as she chewed. "Mmm, and it tastes so good too!"

Ashlyn and I shared a look of revulsion that turned into amusement before returning to make out with our own slices. As soon as that salty, cheesy goodness hit my tongue, I forgot all about Arya's pizza abomination.

"So, how was your Thanksgiving?" I asked when I managed to pull myself away from the sexiest triangle of pastry ever concocted.

Arya swallowed the bite she was chewing and shrugged, but I could see the reticence in her downcast eyes. "Eh, it was okay. Pretty lonely, actually."

"Yeah. Everyone went home for the holiday, so the Dome's pretty much empty," Ashlyn added.

I frowned. I knew Arya would be struggling with this weekend, which was why I'd invited her so many times to come over, but I understood her rejection of my offer. If I didn't have Gram, I'd probably have spent the day gorging on ice cream and binge-watching old movies.

"What did you end up doing?" I asked.

She dabbed a napkin across her lips. "Pretty much had a pity party with a pint of ice cream and Netflix."

My lips formed an awkward blend between a frown and a smirk. "That's exactly what I would've done. I should have forced you to come over and tied you to the chair so you couldn't leave."

Arya laughed as she set down her abhorrent pizza slice on her plate. "And I should have let you. I thought spending a day by myself would be better, especially after my interaction with Tobias the night before."

I narrowed my eyes at her in accusation. "Please tell me you're not giving him another chance after the way he dissed you on your date."

She shook her head rapidly. "No, definitely not."

I pursed my lips. Liar.

"So what did Prince Dracul have to say?" Ashlyn asked. "Did he at least apologize?"

"Nope, no apology." Arya sighed, sitting back in her chair. "I was working on my sparring in the gym after dinner, and he walked in. I was determined to ignore him, but apparently, my punching technique was wrong, and he felt compelled to correct me."

I shook my head. "Typical guy."

Ashlyn nodded. "Did you turn around and punch him in his smug face?"

Arya snickered. "Well, what he had to say was actually helpful. And then he offered to let me watch him run through a level in the Simulation Room."

"Really?" I leaned closer. Arya had told me about what those bitches did to her, and while that whole thing was fucked up, I found the idea of the Simulation Room fascinating! "Tell me every detail. Did he get his ass handed to him?"

"No—well, actually, yeah," she stammered with a furrowed brow. "He was fighting against a bunch of dragons in a snowy mountain area. It was kind of hard to understand what was happening while watching…"

She paused for a moment, a shadow coming over her eyes.

"Anyway, he beat the level, but he got pretty beat up in the process," she went on. "I had to practically carry him to the infirmary."

"You helped him?" Ashlyn inclined her head toward me while still eyeing Arya and stage-whispered, "She's so going to fall back into his dick-sand."

I nodded in agreement. "Totally."

Arya cut us a warning glare and scoffed.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Ashlyn hissed, patting Arya's arm frantically as she looked pointedly behind me.

I turned in my seat to see the arrogant dragon shifter coming toward us. His expression was blank, but when his eyes flickered to me, a scowl settled on his brow.

I faced forward again, so not up for dealing with any prejudice bullshit today.

"What are you ladies up to?" he asked as he approached, stopping a foot from our table and giving me a judgmental side eye.

"Shopping," Arya said, wearing a neutral mask. "I'm surprised to see you outside of the Dome."

He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I don't usually buy into the whole Black Friday thing, but I do need to get gifts for my mother and sister, so I figured I'd give it a try."

The defensive posture Arya had adopted when she saw him was already waning, and I was tempted to rile her back up with an insult to the dragon asshole, but when I turned to him to do just that, something stopped me.

The way he looked at her… Hell, the way his aura felt when he looked at her. It struck me. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was potent.

"Do you have any suggestions of what they might like?" he asked Arya.

Her armor completely fell away, and her brows twitched upward in flattered surprise. "Oh, um…can't go wrong with jewelry."

"Dick-sand," Ashlyn whispered to me, and I snorted in a very unladylike fashion.

Tobias glanced at us suspiciously before returning his hungry gaze onto his prey. "Alright. I'll keep that in mind."

His eyes slid to me again. "Aren't you the witch who came to the party a few weeks ago?"

The way he said those words made the muscles of my shoulders and arms ripple with tension, and I crossed them over my chest and gave him a catty sneer.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

He scrutinized me for a moment longer, then turned back to Arya. "I'd be careful of who you trust. If you cross the wrong witch, you could end up with a wound you can't recover from."

And before any of us could say a word in retaliation—namely, me—he spun on his heel and strode down the sidewalk.

"What the hell does that even mean?" I yelled after him, but he didn't so much as glance back in my direction as he disappeared into the throng of pedestrians.

Arya reached out to put her hand on my leg. "I'm sorry, Shea. I don't understand why everyone hates witches so much."

"I don't," Ashlyn commented. "I think Shea is badass."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. "I am badass!"

"I really don't understand why we don't ally ourselves with your kind," Ashlyn continued, plucking a sauce-dripping piece of chicken off her pizza. "We need more protection against"—she lowered her voice surreptitiously—"vampires."

The word struck my heart like a cello chord, vibrating through me and thawing my anger.

"That's a great point, Ashlyn," Arya said. "If they would just let Shea into the school, her magic could help us against them."

The vibrations in my chest began to sting, and I accepted the bitter reality that there was no way I could tell Arya about Julian, or the grimoire. She'd hate me for it. She hated the vampires as strongly as Tobias and the other shifters hated me. And she had a good reason for it, unlike the dragon asshole.

Although, I had to wonder if Tobias had some personal vendetta against witches after what he said. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he'd pissed off the wrong witch. He seemed to have a knack for pissing off every person he came across. And if he had any sort of hex placed against him, all the more reason to keep my best friend as far away from him as possible.

And all the more reason for getting into that damn school!

"I've decided not to give up on getting in just yet," I commented.

Arya narrowed her eyes on me playfully. "What plan is that crazy mind of yours hatching?"

" Moi ?" I asked, my hand fluttering to my chest in mock shock. "Why, I don't know what you're talking about."

Arya shook her head.

"Well, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know," Ashlyn said, and Arya nodded along with her. "I'm all for it."

"Thanks." I gave them a half smile. "Let's hurry up and finish eating so we can get to shopping."

"Yes!" Ashlyn agreed, and we all returned to devouring our food.

It about killed me to keep this secret from them, but I didn't have another choice. At least, not yet. Once Julian proved himself to be trustworthy, I could work on a plan to get them to see it, too.

So far, Julian had been true to his word, and though the blood bags in his fridge were more revolting than Arya's choice in pizza toppings, they were also reassuring. I just hoped my decision to trust him wouldn't end up as my worst one of all.