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“There goes lunch,” Amber groaned. “Nice work, Winston.”
“Anyone going after him?” I asked, a minute after Angelo vanished. Mira let out a sigh.
“Angelo doesn’t want to be bothered. He didn’t want to assist you,” Mira confirmed. “He wanted to stay in Silversmith with the half-breed.”
“Hey,” Amber protested. “The half-breed has a name. And if she were here and heard that, Ciara would punch your lights out.” I chuckled, knowing that Ciara Parker had quite a temper. Mira’s doubtful expression made Amber shoot Mira a sympathetic expression.
“She will learn that Ciara isn’t someone to screw around with,” Amber said before heading to the kitchen. I followed her, since I hardly wanted to interact with strange aliens that I barely knew. The things I do for you, Jade, I thought to myself. To my surprise and discomfort, Deric joined us. Amber opened the freezer and fished out a couple of pounds of ground beef. I already knew what my friend was going to make, so I entered the pantry and selected a couple of boxes of spaghetti, a large bottle of tomato sauce, and some Kraft cheese and dumped it on the counter. Amber grinned at me as she began cooking. I leaned against the wall, Deric deciding to take up a spot beside me. I wanted to fight, unsure of the pull that I felt to touch him. I wasn’t typically shy about flirting with men, which often got me in trouble. But I hadn’t decided if I was keeping Deric, so didn’t want to make a move yet.
“You don’t know if you’re keeping me?” Deric asked, in a tone that told me that he wasn’t pleased by that notion.
“I just met you. And you spent an entire week ignoring me, so yeah. I’m not sure if I want to start something with you yet,” I reasoned. His impatient expression caused annoyance to fill me. That was the very expression that Julia gave me when I expressed my doubts of wanting to ascend. I could already hear her voice now. “Sheena, you don’t have a choice in the matter. You were born a caster, and you’ll die a caster.” I would oftentimes smother my urge to tell the woman to stuff it. I would decide if I wanted to stick my neck out for the human race. It was a commitment that made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t like I wanted to go rogue and commit evil crimes. But who said that I wanted to follow Celest, a grumpy old coven leader? Why did I have to join a coven? I could go solo. Like my mother, Deric probably thought that everything had already been written. I was his and should accept no effort from him. That was never going to happen.
“Do you know how rare finding your soulmate is?” Deric demanded.
“As rare as it is to be an oracle that’s still breathing?” I asked as Amber turned to us, surprise on her face.
“Angelo wasn’t lying, this stove is fast,” she commented.
“Yeah, no kidding,” I said, eying the pasta that now rested in a serving dish. The sauce and meat were still simmering on the stove.
“Sheena, look...”
“Deric, what is it that you want from me?” I asked, shooting him a hard glare. “Do you want me to fall into your arms, declare that I’m thrilled to find a mate, and marry you? Yeah, that’s not going to happen, unless you put in a little bit of effort.”
“I am putting in effort. I’m in space, risking my life to rescue a girl I don’t even know, just to make you happy,” Deric argued, which was annoying. Jade was worth saving. She was kind, patient, generous, and an all-around awesome sister. We had plans to dorm together in college. She wasn’t simply a shallow version of a friend. She saved me once, and I’d never forget it.
“Just remember this, jerk-off: if it weren’t for Jade, I wouldn’t be alive. I owe her my life,” I said before storming out of the kitchen. I had enough of the entitled alien that assumed that I belonged to him.
I walked past the sitting room and went straight for the bedrooms. A door to my left opened, and Angelo poked his head out. He sniffed the air and a guilty expression flashed across his face.
“I offered lunch and stormed off before I could make it,” he commented.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “Ciara isn’t just a half-breed. She’s a person.” I wanted to add in “just like Jade,” but didn’t feel like it was necessary. Angelo hadn’t been the one that made it seem that she was a nobody. I instinctively lifted my shirt and caressed the scar that stretched across half of my stomach. My eyes filled as I recalled the sacrifice that Jade had willingly made. The Stephens were her guardians at the time, and signed all of the necessary paperwork. We had gone through the recovery together, something that bonded us beyond what anything else could. I had one of Jade’s organs inside of me. I had the girl’s kidney, and she had offered it to me without hesitation. I would do anything to save her from the Nerethians.
“Want to talk about it?” Angelo asked as his warm eyes landed on my scar. I quickly dropped my shirt and sucked in a breath.
“Jade saved my life. I get that you don’t want to be here. And I’m sorry that you’re away from Ciara. But Jade...” A tear trickled down my face, and I brushed it away. “Sorry, I just hope that we aren’t too late.”
“All we can really do is try our best. And to make it clear, I do want to help you,” Angelo said. “I just don’t like leaving Ciara alone.”
I laughed.
“She’ll be more than capable of protecting herself. Believe me,” I assured. Angelo nodded, a fond smile slipping across his face. He was obviously thinking of a memory that made him chuckle.
“She keyed this jock’s car for cheating on her. Then, when he had the nerve to ask Ciara to pay for the damages, she kneed him then punched him in the nose. The fight was all over with before I could step in,” he recalled. I felt terrible for Angelo, who was obviously enamored by the person that he was sent to protect. And I also felt guilty that I hadn’t made an effort to become Ciara’s friend.
“Where does she think you went?” I questioned.
“I told Torman to tell her that I transferred schools. We don’t know how long this could take,” Angelo said.
“No good-bye?” I asked.
Angelo frowned.
“Ciara was already mad at me. I didn’t want to show up at her door,” Angelo said.
“Don’t be like Deric,” I warned Angelo. “Call the woman when we dock.”
Angelo nodded.
“I plan on checking on her. If all goes well, I can say good-bye then,” he assured me.
“Or she’ll slap you for disappearing,” I teased, having a feeling that Ciara cared deeply for Angelo. I wasn’t sure what gave me the idea. Maybe it was instinct. I hadn’t paid much attention to Ciara, since she was a grade below me, and I had been distracted by the caster crap. But something told me that as I stood with Angelo, she was somewhere trying to accept not seeing him again.
“Guys, food,” Amber screeched. Upon hearing her voice, worry and uncertainty warred within me. I was positive that Amber was shoving her emotions down, or pretending to be happy. What if she had to choose between saving Jade and killing Lord Peirc? I had no idea what my friend would do. Here was a better question: What were we supposed to do about the people that murdered Jade’s parents? Tim and Jane were kind people, and I was positive that they wanted to adopt Jade.
“You should probably eat,” Angelo encouraged. “I know that we have a lot of problems to solve, but dwelling on them won’t help.” I nodded and made my way over to the kitchen table. Deric gestured to the chair beside him. What the hell? Did he think I was someone that was going to be ordered around?
“Is that an order or an invitation?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” Deric said, which made Winston laugh. Amber, who was seated on Deric’s other side, rolled her eyes as she dug into her food. I eyed my already made plate and sighed.
“Fine,” I grumbled as Angelo went to the kitchen. I plopped down beside Deric and began shoveling food in my mouth. My plan was to eat and run. I wasn’t going to make anything easy for Deric.