Page 14 of Resting Witch Face
And what in all the hexes did Danika’s smile mean?
Was she that happy to be rid of me?
Not that I could blame her, but still. It wasn’t like I spent my time expecting everything to be served on a silver platter for me. I worked my ass off to train every single one of the losers in hand to hand, as well as weapon combat. I made it my mission to be the best at something since I couldn’t help with magic. That counted for something, right?
Right?
I slapped a hand over my mouth when River walked away, and the breath I was holding whooshed out of me. My throat burned and my ribs hurt, but at least he didn’t know I heard them. Forcing back the cough threatening to give me up, I scrambled to my feet, wanting to be as far away from Danika as I could. White noise thundered in my ears from the adrenaline, which was why I didn’t hear anything around me. The moment I was on my feet, a hand pressed harshly over my mouth, and my body was yanked backward as whoever it was bodily carried me to the first office across the hall.
A scream lodged in my throat when they pushed me further into the empty office, and I stumbled a few steps before whirling around to face my attacker. Arms up and knees bent, I was ready to tackle the ass, maybe break an arm or a leg to teach them a lesson, when my glare locked on narrowed blue eyes I’d recognize in my sleep.
“What in the actual fuck, Sissily,” I hissed at my best friend, my heartbeat drumming through my whole body as if it had a mind of its own. I was shaking like a leaf from the strength of it.
“You see that resting bitch face you have going over there?” Her hip jutted to the side, and her finger swirled between us to encompass the air around my head. “Thatmight work on everyone who doesn’t know you, little jerk. I suggest next time, when you are planning to get rid of me just to get your dumb ass in trouble, you work harder on your expressions.” Her thumb jabbed at the center of her chest. “Iknow you.” Said thumb was replaced with a forefinger stabbing accusingly at my face. “You suck at lying.”
While she was having a hissy fit and enjoying her monologue, I remembered River, and the top of my head started tingling.
“Did River see you?” My nails were biting at the skin of her shoulders before I was done talking, and I gave her a shake for good measure, too. “Did he?”
“I’m not dumb like you to crawl under desks. Of course he didn’t see me.” Sissily slapped my hands away, the dark smudges under her eyes while she glowered at me making the blue of her irises glow from within. With the ponytail still askew on the side of her head and her hair sticking in all directions, she had the look of a crazed woman down pat. “Who spit in his coffee, by the way?”
“Huh?” My eloquent response was met with a roll of her peepers.
“Who. Pissed. Hottie. Off?” Every word was spoken slowly, her bow-shaped lips pronouncing them with exaggeration on each letter. Like a moron, I stared at her mouth until she was done, and her fingers snapped an inch from my nose. “Anyone home? Earth to Hazel.”
I smacked her hand away.
“Don’t be an ass.” Hairs escaping her nutjob hairdo danced around her face when I blew a breath that came from my toes. “He had a disagreement with Danika.” Acid scorched my gullet just thinking about it.
“About?” Brow arched, she stared at me so intently that it seemed like she was trying to read my mind to get the information faster.
Our voices were hushed, yet I still couldn’t get the words out. Focused on the scar that sat above her left eyebrow in a straight line—courtesy of yours truly when she refused to give me my phone and of which she returned in kind, making us samesies now with matching disfigurements on our faces—I debated if we should drag her to the library or leave the building all together before Danika saw us and opened a fresh hell. I could always come back later and turn the library upside down until I found something to help me. Mind made up, I grabbed her hand and yanked her with me.
“I’ll tell you when we are out of here.” Her protests stopped at my muttered comment.
We snuck out of the empty office after I checked and double checked that no one was waiting to bust us out in the hall. Both of us darted on our tiptoes with single-minded determination, which, I might add, was easier for Sissily because, unlike my stupid ass with my stupid high heels, she had worn flats. No one yelled after us or stopped us to ask questions, and fresh air that didn’t smell of herbs and melted wax slapped me in the face. With a sigh of relief, I dragged Sissily away from the coven and my grandmother’s sight. Tears still burned the back of my eyes, and they had been there ever since I overheard the cursed conversation, but I refused to let them fall. Oh, no.
I had no intention of crying because she’d picked the coven over her own blood.
I wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of doing that to me.
Anger replaced the soul-deep ache Danika had planted in my chest.
If my grandmother wanted to play games, I was going to give her a run for her money. She should’ve known better than to expect I’d sit around and just let this shit happen. I could be a player, too, and I had no doubt I’d win.
Lesson number five: if you want to win at all costs, you play dirty.
8
“There is no way she would do that,” Sissily argued, adamantly trying to convince herself, while I held onto my steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip. We weren’t moving, just sitting like idiots in my car because my best friend refused to use her own car and meet me somewhere away from … well, just away. I didn’t give two shits where.
“Right. Of course, she wouldn’t. Don’t be silly.” My cheerful remark narrowed her gaze. “Danika knew someone would be eavesdropping. She staged the whole thing to teach me a lesson, and look at me now. I’m a new woman. Mission accomplished.”
“We are focusing on the wrong thing.” I had no idea how my neck didn’t snap when I whipped my head to look at her. “River stood up for you. I told you he was not to be added in the same pile as Sasha Airborne.”
She did say that. A time or two, or every second minute over the last couple of weeks, to be exact. If I didn’t know Sissily better than I knew myself, I would’ve thought she had a crush on Blondie. Since we made a pact years ago that we both abided by, I knew that River could be prancing butt naked in front of her and Sissily would point him in my direction since I saw him first and we counted that as dibs. That was how we rolled. Our friendship meant more than a meatsuit with an attached penis to it. There were plenty of those around, but you only had one soul sister.
And she was my sister in every way that counted but blood.
