Page 67 of Deviant

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Right. Because you know the future. You’re clairvoyant now.” I scoff, irritated with her.

“No.” She smiles sweetly at me, her blue eyes so clear and bright that I can count the tiny white stars embedded in them. “I have no idea what will happen if I get chosen. All I know is that I can’t just sit on my ass and do nothing. I can’t watch my mother perish in front of my eyes without at least trying to help her.”

“Why does it have to be you? Why can’t it be Elias or even Aidan?”

“Because…“ She thins her lips. “For some reason, The Scourge doesn’t want anything to do with Elias. Not that I’m complaining. It gives me comfort knowing at least one of us is safe from that nightmare. And Aidan…come on, Roe. You and I both know that Aidan wouldn’t be able to survive an hour if he got selected. You need a certain mentality for it, and mybrother doesn’t have that killer instinct in him. Aidan is many things, but he’s no killer.”

“Are you saying that he’s soft? What does that say about me then? I am dating him, you know? Am I soft?” I counter, offended.

“Yes,” she whispers, running the back of her palm over my cheek. “Soft. And sweet. And good.”

I slap her hand away.

“I am not good,” I curse, hating that those words are coming from the mouth of the one person I thought knew me best. Just as I’m about to storm out of the kitchen, Nora stops me by wrapping her arms around my waist and holding me tightly from behind.

“What I meant was…that you’re good to me. You always have been. That’s the only thing I care about anyway. How good you are to me.” My tense muscles relax when she loosens her hold on me a bit to press a kiss on my shoulder. “Aidan doesn’t deserve you, you know? He’s always been a bit of a little bitch. He’s the safe option.”

“Maybe that’s what I like about him,” I say, frowning because part of me reluctantly agrees with her description of my so-called boyfriend.

“You don’t want safe, Roe—you want to feel alive. Aidan will never be able to make you feel that way, even if you’re not ready to admit it to yourself yet.”

I turn to her and cup her face in my palms.

“I feel safe with you.”

Her eyes soften with a tinge of sadness that I don’t understand.

“I know.”

“Do you feel safe with me?”

“Yes.”

And with her confession, I decide to tempt fate into action in another way.

“Then don’t go tonight. Stay here with me,” I plead before leaning in and pressing a tender kiss to her lips.

Usually, when Nora kisses me, it’s just a quick, innocent peck. But tonight, I want to give her more. I’d do just about anything to keep her from going off to god knows where tonight. However, to my surprise, Nora quickly pulls away from the kiss, her cheeks flushed, not because of breathlessness, but out of pure rage.

“What was that for?” she says accusingly.

“I…uh…just…“

“Just what, Roe?! Did you honestly think that I’d spend the night with you instead of trying to find a way to save my mom?! Was that your fucking plan? Are you that selfish?!”

“No, that wasn’t what I was doing at all.”

“Wasn’t it?” she says, disappointed in me. “Fuck, Roe. Why tonight? Of all nights, why did you have to pull this shit tonight?”

‘Because I don’t want you to leave me.’ The words are lodged in my throat, but they refuse to come out.

Nora grabs my shoulders, gives me a hard shake, and states, “You can’t stop me. Not with this. If you think kissing me would somehow do the trick at keeping me here, then you’re dead wrong.”

“I’m…sorry,” I stammer, feeling both embarrassed by the kiss and hurt that nothing would keep her from leaving.

“Jesus Christ, Roe, what were you thinking?”

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