Page 28 of Evil Hearts

She whirls around, baring her fangs at me. “H-Hey! I was watching that!”

Booping her on the nose, I slide my phone back into my jeans pocket. “You’re doing something the kids these days like to call ‘doom scrolling,’ mon couer.”

Juliette rolls her eyes at me. “I do not understand what this doom scrolling is, but your French pronunciation is still awful.”

“Yeah, well, I’m British, love. What are you going to do about it? Fight me?”

She stares up at me, and I stare back. Then we break into laughter as the bus drives up to the curb. I grab Juliette’s bag, which is stuffed full of her artwork and new clothes, and gesture for her to go first.

“After you,” I say.

The bus driver barely gives us a second glance. Her human disguise works … for now. With the stolen credit cards, she managed to get herself a wool hat and blue contact lenses. And when we get to Pinecrest Hills, she won’t even need to hide her face, because she’ll be among other monsters who have had to go into hiding. This world might be big, but it still feels stifling for people like Juliette and me.

We find a couple of empty seats toward the back and sit down, and Juliette rests her head against my shoulder.

“Are you nervous?” I ask her.

Juliette places her hand in my palm and looks up at me. “No. Not really,” she murmurs. The bus lurches forward, carrying us away from a city that was once much more tolerant and a hell of a lot safer for everyone. “But I’ll be with you, so it doesn’t really matter where we go.”

I smile, then place a tender kiss on her brow. She slumps back against my shoulder and quietly hums that familiar tune. A distant memory from her homeland.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” I say. “It’ll all work out just fine.”

The End

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