Page 32 of Buried Secret 295

“Okay, stop calling your parts awakened. It makes it sound like you have multiple vaginas that are attached to areas of your body.” She shrugs. “Assuming they are vaginas, no body shame here.” She holds up her hands in surrender before grabbing another piece of pizza. “Stop vagina blocking yourself.”

“Seriously? No extra parts have grown onto my body.” I am biting my lip with nervousness. There are parts of my brain that have yet to awaken. Maybe they won’t now that my shadows and beast have. However, my beast seems to pace a lot more lately. She is antsy and always at the edge of my mind lately.

“I feel like it would be a weirdly cool superpower—the power of the vagina. You would have a huge cult following trying to get a piece of that action. Think it could have multiple babies?”

A shiver comes over my body. “This conversation is over. Get it through your cheese-filled head. There is only one, and that one needs to keep her pants on.”

“Boo! Fine! I am only speaking hypothetically at this point, anyway. Seriously though, air her out.” I level her with a look, and she huffs before rolling her eyes. “Back to Lulu. What do you plan on doing with her?”

“Look, I am on my second strike, and school hasn’t been in session for a week yet. I have to be smart and sneaky.” I don’t have it in me to tell her I haven’t thought that far into it. I’ve never had to play games before when it comes to drama. Lulu is skilled.

She waggles her finger at me. “You should fuck Gage. That will piss her off. She has been after that one since spotting him.”

My beast growls inside of my head, not liking that one bit. Ember raises her hands, and her eyes widen slightly. “Don’t shoot the messenger.” She smiles mischievously before pointing at me. “Knew it! You want him all up in your lady lumps!” Her voice gets sing-song in tone. “Slipping inside your DMs.”

My brows furrow. People need to stop speaking in riddles around me. “What the fuck does that mean?”

She scoffs before frowning. “Forgot you’re electronically challenged, like my grandmother. Give me your phone, Granny Salem.”

I hand her the phone, and she unlocks it. “First, passcode! If Lulu gets a hold of this thing, you are doomed.” She moves fast between screens before holding it up to my face at different angles. “They have face unlocking technology. This phone is sweet, by the way. It has anti-fae face-swapping technology forany spells that make them look like you.” She clicks a few more times and hands me the phone back with the screen still open.

“What is this?” I ask, referring to the profile, which includes many pictures of Gage looking sweaty and shirtless.

“Faegram. You just dropped into Gage’s DM’s, by the way.”

My jaw clinches, and I glare at her. “You keep using these words, and I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. I dropped into what?” The phone vibrates, and I read it.

Is this for real?

“Is what for real?” I thrust the phone back to her.

Ember cackles before clapping. “It’s like he knows you wouldn’t say ‘naked wrestling?’”

“I am going to kill you.” I pull the phone out of her hands. My fingers awkwardly hover over the tiny keyboard. “Why the hell does anyone think this is fun?”

Me: My ex-best friend created this. Please ignore the naked wrestling.

Gage: I feel like you might fight dirty and grab hold of my dangling bits. Not that I am opposed to you grabbing them in a sexy way.

Me: Seriously, fuck off.

Gage: HA! Now I know for sure it’s you.

I flip my phone over on the couch, refuse to look at it, and cross my arms. Every part of me practically twitches to grab the phone. When my eyes look up, Ember gives me a smug look. “Gage and Ember, sitting in a tree. F-U-C-”

“Not another word.” My shadows wrap around her mouth, and she gives me a look. I hold my hands up, shooting her my most innocent look. “I can’t control them.”

Chapter twenty-two

A week goes byquickly. I am slowly trying to get into the swing of things. I have also ignored Gage completely and avoided him. He is a complication, and I don’t have time for distraction right now. Samuel was happy to help me switch our meeting times to avoid him. As I wake up today, I can barely keep my eyes open. Fear grips me as I worry that maybe someone has cursed me or something. I don’t know much about being a caster yet, but I know one who might understand what is happening to me.

I haven’t seen him since starting classes. Part of me feels terrible about only reaching out when I need his help. Sweat covers my skin, and I feel cold yet hot. Every time I blink, it feels like sandpaper. My limbs are heavy and ache with any movements. This outweighs my pride in not wanting to contact him. I pull my phone out and text Simon.

I need your help.

My eyes closed after sending the message because the small screen's light felt blinding. That’s when I heard it. It's a heartbeat, but it’s as loud as a drum, making me wince and my teeth elongate. My gums tingle with the pressure. “Why are you so loud?” Instead of messaging me, Simon opened a portal over to my place. He stands beside the bed, but his silhouette is blurry even at this distance. He smells delicious; if I could move, I would probably attack him. He moves to my side, wearing his dark suit, looking at me with concern.

“How am I being loud? What happened?” His voice has an edge to it I haven’t heard before.

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