42. Evalee

EVALEE

“ W hy? What do the bubbles do?” Hunter asks right as one pops against his forehead. His eyes widen. “Ah, shit.”

Peyton sighs heavily. “Well, I guess it’s too late now.”

I’m about to ask her what’s going to happen, when suddenly, the strongest urge to touch Hunter rises inside me.

“You’re so pretty,” I say, cupping his cheek. “I’ve always thought that.”

A trace of a smile rises on Hunter’s face, but then his grin falters. “What was in the bubbles?” he asks Peyton.

Instead of answering him, she hands him a card.

“Shit,” he says as he reads the note on the card.

“That’s the second time you’ve said that in the last thirty seconds.” I stroke his cheek with my fingertip. “That’s okay, though. I still think you’re pretty.”

“Well, for the record, I think you’re pretty, too.” He sweeps strands of hair out of my eyes. “But you should also know that someone slipped some love confession potion into the bubbles.”

“Oh.” I rack my brain for why that’s bad, but all I see are confessions waiting to be divulged. “Does that mean you were slipped some, too?”

“Well, it’s in the bubbles, but since I have this.” He taps the collar of his shirt where the love potion repellent pendant is hidden. “I’m not affected.”

“Well, that’s not very fair.” I sulk. “Who would want to do this to me?”

When he hands me the card, my pout deepens.

Evalee,

I told you I would get my revenge. Inside the bubbles is a bit of love confession potion that will force you to reveal your true feelings to Hunter. And I can’t wait to enjoy watching him crush your heart.

Sincerely,

Claire

Crap. Through all the madness, I’d completely forgotten about how Claire texted me and threatened to get me back for accidentally spilling that she had a crush on Troy. This was back in high school, and the only reason I spilled the beans is because I was blasted with a spilling secrets spell.

Well, I guess she’s finally getting her revenge, because I’m about to pour my heart and soul out to Hunter.

“Hunter, I need to tell you something,” I say, then take a deep breath. “I think?—”

He stops me with a kiss while pulling my body flush to his. He winds his arm around me and finds my ass as his tongue parts my lips. But as quickly as the wonderfully sporadic kiss started, it ends as he pulls away.

“I don’t want to hear it like this. I want you to have a clear head when you—we say it.” He kisses me again before turning toward Peyton. “Just get us to the tent so we can distract her.”

Peyton nods and walks forward while Hunter fuses his lips against mine. He kisses me deeply while leading me somewhere, and I easily follow, completely trusting him. By the time we finally do come up for air, I’m breathless and we’re standing in a big red tent. And we’re not alone.

Max, the sexy Gothic prince demon, and Ryleigh, the zombie witch, are standing near the far back wall. Max takes one look at Hunter’s arm wrapped around my waist, and then shakes his head.

“So, you forgave him.” He tsks me as he pushes away from the wall of the tent. The chain attached to his beltloops jingles as he makes his way toward me. “Eva, I’m so disappointed in you. And I thought I told you to come alone.”

“Like I would let her come here alone to meet you,” Hunter says, drawing me closer to him.

I feel the strangest tug toward Max and nearly run for him, but luckily, I keep my feet planted. As an extra precaution, though, I loop my arms around Hunter’s waist.

“I don’t care what you want,” I retort, flitting a gaze at Ryleigh. “Stealing my sister to get me here … You’re so evil.”

He stops just short of us. “I’m a demon,” he says like duh . “What do you expect?”

“I don’t know, but you’re going to let my sister go.” I let go of Hunter and reach for Ryleigh. “Come on; let’s go home.”

Ryleigh doesn’t budge, cowering against the wall while looking undecidedly at Max.

Max grins, rubbing his jawline. “Well, it appears that perhaps she’s gotten a bit attached to the evil demon.”

“What did you do to her?” I seethe. “Poison her? Put a curse on her?”

Pity fills his eyes. “My sweet, naive, little rainbow trout, if only that were true.” He reaches for me to do who knows what, and I just about let him.

At the last second, I snap out of my trance and trip back into Hunter’s arms.

Peyton shuffles forward as if ready to fight, which I’m grateful for. However, the last thing I want is to start a fight, so I motion for her to hang on a second. She frowns begrudgingly, but obeys, staying put.

“Why did you want me to come here?” I bite out to Max. “Just to rub it in my face that you can steal my sister if you want to? My sister who you probably killed, by the way.”

“I didn’t kill her, you idiot. Why would I? There’s no reason I’d want her dead.” His pierced brow curves upward. “Do you really think I’d bring you here just to rub something in your face?”

I shake my head. “No. But I want to know why.”

“You’re smarter than I thought, then.” His gaze lazily scrolls up and down my body. “You did overdress a bit for where we’re going, though.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Hunter warns, his arms circling my waist.

“And who’s going to stop me?” Max challenges, tapping his finger against his bottom lip. “You? The vampire over there?” He flicks a gaze at Peyton, who rolls her eyes. Then his gaze zeroes in on me. “Or this one right here?”

I raise my chin. “I’m stronger than the last time you saw me.”

He searches my eyes, and then breathes in deeply. “You’re right … But how …?” Another sniff, and then he frowns. “You drank vampire blood.”

I shrug. “Perhaps.”

His eyes sparkle with a bit of pride and a drop of hate. “Wow, I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Yeah, well, I did. And so did Hunter.” I position my hands on my hips. “So, what do you think? Are you stronger than two almost vampires and one full vampire?”

His gaze stays on mine as a contemplative look masks his expression. “You know, I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to show you this.” He reaches inside his pocket, causing Hunter to inch toward him. “Oh, will you relax? I’m just getting my phone out.” Surprisingly, that’s exactly what he does.

Moments later, a recording starts playing of what sounds like Opal confessing that she took Ryleigh’s body and handed it over to the demons. Her reason? Because the society told her to.

My heart soars in my chest as I trade a look with Peyton. She raises her brows and mouths, “ I told you so. ”

Then I tip my head back to look up at Hunter, wondering if he knew. Judging by the stunned anger in his expression, I’m guessing not. But before I can find out for certain, the town clock lets out a loud, single chime. At the same time, the flap of the back exit of the tent opens up, giving me a clear view of the massive clock in the center of the town.

“Why are the hands spinning backward?” I mutter, a memory tugging at my brain.

Beware when the clock spins backward, the clown had warned.

I thought she was crazy, but now I’m wondering?—

A figure suddenly blurs by me as the wind kicks up. I hear Peyton and Hunter shout something, but the sound is smothered out by a loud crack . Then the world starts spinning as I tumble toward the ground.

Or wait …

Maybe the world isn’t spinning.

Nope, I think my head’s on backward, which means the cracking noise I heard was my neck breaking. Which means I died. Which means I’m a …

Oh no, I’m a vampire.

As soon as my body collapses to the ground, though, I rise back up, like a floating ghost.

Oh, crap.

Yep, turns out, on top of being different with everything else, I also react differently to vampire blood. And by different, I mean, I don’t react at all. Because I’m dead. And not just dead.

Oh, my God, I’m a ghost!