Page 5 of Kiki

Minx returned with a cute comforter and sheets in her arms. “Minx does what?”

“Have a power,” Ava said, cocking one eyebrow.

“Is that what we’re talking about?” Minx asked, plopping the pile of bedding on my bed. She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she helped me make the bed. Finally, she sat on it and said, “Okay. This is sister and sister mates’ information.”

“You don’t even know me. Don’t tell me anything secret if you don’t want to. I feel weird.” The words came out almost in one long run-on sentence.

Ava cracked up. “Dude, your DNA results are right there. You are our sister. Welcome to the circle of trust. Go on, Minxy.”

“What did I tell you about calling me that? It sounds like you’re calling me loose or something. Anyway, I might have some fire powers and Ava might have some healing powers. Okay, not might. We do have those powers. Do you?”

I sighed. “I have a thing with wind, maybe, but I haven’t really explored it yet.”

“Wind, huh?” Ava said. “That’s really cool. Maybe you can put out Minx’s fires.”

“Shut it, Ava.”

I snorted at their candor. “I—” I almost blabbed about my tornado incident when the doorknob turned.

“Hello…I’m Dahlia. You must be Kiki. I heard from someone that I had a new roommate.” Dahlia was dressed in black from head to toe. She had long raven hair and was fond of eyeliner.

I liked her already.

“I’m Kiki,” I said, stepping forward. “I’m the new roommate.”

She nodded. “And you are Minx and Ava?”

“Yes,” I answered. “They are my sisters. Which is still weird.”

We all laughed. “That’s cool. You have your schedule?”

For the next few hours, all four of us talked about school and the rules here, which weren’t many. Dahlia didn’t reveal much about her background, but perhaps she would once she didn’t have such a big audience.

“Well, our mates are probably wondering where we are. But we will see you at dinner, right?” Ava came over to give me a quick hug. We exchanged phone numbers and Minx followed her out, saying her mate Theron was probably pacing the floor.

“Aren’t they lucky to have a harem?” Dahlia sighed, flinging herself on her bed.

“I guess.”

Dahlia helped me unpack the rest of the way and, before I knew it, dinnertime arrived. She headed for the door. “Hey, let’s go. It’s fried chicken night.”

Didn’t have to tell me twice.

Chapter Five

“We have three classes together, but not the first one of the day. I’m in the same hallway that hour, so I’ll help.” Dahlia was just as much a fan of unrelieved black in the morning as the rest of the day.

I locked the door to our room and put the key in my pocket. “Thanks. I didn’t know if I was going to get a nice roommate or…”

Dahlia gasped. “Are you a crime fan too? I used to be, but now I’m more about conspiracies.”

“Oh,” I said. “I watched that show about the worst roommates ever. It kind of scarred me for life.”

“I watched that one too. Now I’m into podcasts mostly.”

I whirled around and walked backward as Dahlia launched into a spiel about conspiracies that ranged from aliens who built the structures before the pyramids, to shadow people and everything in between.

“Wait, shadow people? I’m not going to sleep tonight. Oof!” I slammed into something hard and, from the hot breath on the back of my neck, I knew it wasn’t a wall. My heart beat so fast I could hear the tempo between my ears.

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