I lifted my eyes, but kept my head still, so I could use my hair as a shield to watch them.
She held out a red wrapped box to Dante.
He glanced at me, our eyes meeting even through my veil of hair, and he took the box from her. “Thanks.”
I dropped my eyes again, tears burning them.
No. I would not cry.
I had no reason to cry.
“You sure I can’t just tear one of her arms off?” Loralie whispered. "She doesn’t need both of them."
I sighed. “It would make me feel better.”
“Not today,” Tsukiko said. “Maybe some day, but you can’t tear an arm off today.”
“Spoilsport,” Loralie muttered.
I let out a short, soft laugh, but it was cut short when Norma laughed at something Dante said.
“Just a few hours left,” Tsukiko whispered.
Hopefully, I could make it that long.
Chapter 27
LORALIE
Norma’s followers were really making me mad. If they said one more thing, I was going to lose my crap and tear one of their arms off to beat them all with it.
Tsukiko was holding it together well, which honestly surprised me. I’d assumed she would have given up by third period.
Frances was dealing with more than Tsukiko or I, though, since Dante kept showing up near her.
I wanted to tell him to back off, but I wasn’t sure if that would upset Frances or not.
“What’s got you scowling so much on a day that is supposed to be happy?” Bogden asked from beside me.
Phantom goop!
I hadn’t heard him approaching. Plus, I’d sat in a different seat than normal to try to avoid him.
“Nothing,” I said and started to stand.
He grabbed my wrist and stopped me. “Hey, what’s going on? You haven’t talked to me in weeks and won’t even look at me. What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything,” I whispered. “You’re better off without me bothering you anyway.”
“Bothering me? What are you talking about?” he asked.
I jerked my arm free. “I’ve got to go.” Grabbing my bag, I headed out of the classroom and down the hallway.
“Loralie,” Bogden called after me. “Wait.”
I wasn’t supposed to use my powers during school hours except for emergencies. Well, this was an emergency. An emotional emergency.
I leapt into the nearest shadow and used it to travel to my room.
My two hellhound pups rushed over and licked my hands.
Collapsing to the floor, I let them lick the salty tears from my face.
Maybe I should have let Dad homeschool me after all.
“I don’t know why you keep running away from me,” Bogden said from outside my door. “I don’t know what I did to upset you. I wish you would tell me so I could make it better. I don’t want to keep chasing you and risk upsetting you more. So, I’ll just leave your gift here. Happy Samhain, Loralie.”
Waiting several minutes to be sure he was gone, I opened my door a crack, grabbed the black-wrapped box, and then closed and locked my door.
I sat on the bed and stared at the box.
Bogden had gotten me a Samhain gift.
I hadn’t expected that.
I was dying to know what was inside, but at the same time, I didn’t want to open it.
With a groan, I flopped back onto my bed and closed my eyes. Maybe a nap would help.
My nap was immediately interrupted by Tsukiko and Frances barging into my room.
My ferocious hellhounds yipped excitedly and rolled onto their backs for belly rubs.
“We’ve got a problem,” Frances said.
I looked at them both and saw that each held a package.
“Rathik and Dante?” I guessed.
They nodded.
I pointed at the one Bogden had left me. “Bogden.”
We carried our packages to the table and set them in the center, then backed up and glared at them.
“We’re not opening them, right?” Tsukiko asked.
“We are not opening them,” I said with a definitive nod.
“Well, I’m fine not opening them, but we cannot give them back. That’d be incredibly rude,” Frances whispered.
I agreed with a nod. “So, we put them in a box and hide them in the closet?” I suggested.
Tsukiko agreed with a nod, went to her room, and then returned with a box large enough to fit the three inside. We carefully put them in the box, then taped it up like we were trying to keep a creature from escaping.
Then, Frances carefully put the box into the closet and closed the door.
“There,” I said with an exhale.
“Out of sight, out of mind,” Tsukiko said and flopped down onto my bed.
“Well, mostly,” Frances murmured.
“We’re taking the rest of the night off,” Tsukiko said. “I can’t deal with them anymore.”
“She almost tore off some guy’s arm when he tried to give her some chocolates,” Frances chuckled.
“Time for naps?” I suggested. They had interrupted my attempt, and I was tired.
“Naps,” they agreed.
We climbed onto the bed, snuggled down together beneath the blankets, and fell into a deep sleep.
“What are you three doing?” Ainsley gasped.
I groaned and pulled the covers up tighter. “Go away.”
“It’s Samhain! Why are you guys hiding? It’s time to celebrate!” she chirped.
I could hear her prancing around the room. Her talons clicked on the tile in the bathroom before she returned near us, her feathers brushed my nose and almost made me sneeze.
“You had ten packages at your doors. I brought them in so no one could steal them,” she continued.
“We aren’t going out,” Tsukiko said. “Just let us sleep.”
“It’s almost midnight. Everyone is heading to the party. You guys can’t skip it,” she said with a guffaw.
“We can and we are,” I said. “Seriously, Ainsley, we aren’t coming. Just tell everyone we’re sick or something.”
She chirped so softly and sadly that it almost broke my heart. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
The door closed with a whisper soft click and the room grew silent once again.
“We hurt her feelings, didn’t we?” I guessed.
“Yeah, but she’ll get over it,” Tsukiko said. “Let’s eat and then we can watch something.”
We sat together on the bed, watching the television, and eating food.
I didn’t like that I had hurt Ainsley’s feelings, but this was for the best.
Staying away from everyone was definitely for the best.
Chapter 28
FRANCES
Having a blindfold, gag, and handcuffs put on you first thing when you wake up was not something I ever thought I would have to experience.
As I was carried out of the room, I struggled, kicking and flailing while also screaming around the gag.
I could hear lots of commotion, but no one was talking. There were a lot of grunts and distressed muffled sounds, though.