Page 86 of Sweet Nightmare

The words remind me where I am, and I jerk my gaze from Jude’s. Only to see everyone else in the room slowly blinking as if awakening from a trance. I glance at Simon, who wiggles his brows at me, and it finally occurs to me what happened. Ember was messing with him, and he responded by showing her exactly what a siren can do.

Even before Ember says, “You are such a jerk!” and throws a chip at him.

He catches it with a grin. “Hey, I was just providing an educational demonstration,” he tells her before popping the chip in his mouth.

“I think you should have to go next. Punishment for that little ‘educational demonstration.’” I use my fingers to make quotes around the words.

He shrugs. “Sure. But first Eva has to tell us what was the lie. The element thing, right?”

“Actually, it was the heights. Being high up doesn’t scare me at all.”

“So you like to fly?” Ember asks, suddenly looking very interested in the conversation.

“I’ve never been. I didn’t really know a lot of shifters in my old life, before I came here.”

“I’ll take you,” Ember offers. “When we graduate. If you want, I mean.”

Eva lights up. “I’d love that.”

“Then we’ll do it.” Ember looks as close to happy as I’ve ever seen her. But the moment she realizes we’re looking at her, the normal scowl comes back in force. “Who’s next?”

“I’ve been to forty-seven countries. I’m actually seventy-eight years old. And I’ve never killed anyone.” Izzy yawns as she runs a hand through her long, red hair, her expression clearly saying she doesn’t care if we manage to guess her lie or not.

“Umm, that was…” Simon looks flummoxed, like he has no idea what to say. And I don’t blame him. That was a lot to take in…and trying to figure out which one of those things is the lie is mind-bending.

I glance at Jude, to see what he thinks, but I don’t think he even heard her. He’s sitting next to me, but he’s completely focused on the tapestry in the corner, eyes narrowed and foot tapping the way he always does when he’s trying to figure something out.

“I’m going to go with the forty-seven countries thing,” Mozart says as she leans over to hand me a bottle of Topo Chico.

I lift a brow at her, but she just grins and whispers, “You’re looking a little thirsty.”

My whole face burns with embarrassment—I know she’s not talking about the sparkling water—and I drag my gaze away from Jude.

“Is she right?” Eva asks curiously. “How many countries have you actually been to?”

“They’re all lies,” Remy says as he kicks his feet out and leans back on his elbows.

“All?” Eva squeaks, and I know she’s thinking about Izzy’s last lie. “That’s not how the game—”

“Please,” Izzy says with a roll of her eyes. “I just met you people. You don’t actually think I’m going to tell you anything about myself, do you?”

“But you kind of just did,” I say because one of the things this game always proves to me is that a person’s lies tell as much as their truths do. And Izzy isn’t the only person at this school to kill someone—accidentally or on purpose. Her knife use alone makes that truth not surprising at all.

But what is surprising—and makes me wonder—is the fact that she lied about it. The only question now is were these lies just throwaways or did she pick them because she wished they were the truth?

An awkward silence ensues—one where I remember that, despite what Izzy and I went through together, I really don’t know her. I don’t know any of the people in this room, except Eva…and maybe Jude.

Oh, I used to know him. But now? The way he keeps looking at that tapestry and then glancing out the window like he wants to be anywhere but here makes me wonder how much I’ve missed in the last three years.

We all kind of stare at each other for a moment, trying to figure out what to say or do next. And then Simon must decide, fuck it, because he jumps in with a, “Looks like it’s my turn.”

He gives us a choice between I’ve crashed two dozen ships, I like to hunt for sunken treasure, and I write unrequited love poetry—all of which sound totally believable to me.

But Ember just laughs. “You’re a siren. No way is your love unrequited.”

I wait for him to make a comment about his obvious crush on her, but he just shakes his head no instead.

“I think—” Mozart starts, but Ember interrupts him.

---