“So yes, Jaxon,” I continue, “Hudson helped me out. Not because I had anything against you, but just because he was there.”

Jaxon holds my gaze, and I watch a muscle in his jaw tick, but he doesn’t say anything.

I can’t help the sadness creeping in to fill the void where my anger had been. This isn’t Jaxon’s fault any more than it’s mine. I sigh. “Fucking Hudson.”

“Ouch. Don’t hold back, Grace. Tell me how you really feel,” Hudson says from where he’s suddenly sprawled out on the Astroturf right behind Jaxon, a copy of Sartre’s No Exit open in his hands.

60

Paranormal Telenovelas

Are a Lifestyle

Choice

“Are you kidding me?” I turn and yell at Hudson, sadness disappearing under the reservoir of annoyance he so easily taps into. “You decide to show up now?”

“I’ve been here awhile, but it was starting to get uncomfortable listening to the two of you fight.” He yawns and stretches a little, which just pisses me off more—exactly as I know he intends. “And by uncomfortable, I mean really fucking boring.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Since, you know, I live to serve your every whim.”

“I do know,” he agrees. “And I have to say I appreciate it, which was why I’m letting you know that this whole back-and-forth thing with Jaxon really isn’t working for me. But no worries. I know you’ll fix it for next time.”

I am well aware that he’s just messing with me, know that he’s trying to get me upset, and still I fall into the trap because how can I not? “You’re awful, you know that? Like really, really, ‘slugs crawling on your skin’ awful.”

He yawns again. “Old news, Grace. Try to keep up.”

“Is this actually happening right now?” Jaxon’s voice slices through the air between us. “I’m talking to you and you’re talking to him?”

“I don’t have a choice—” I start to say.

“Don’t,” he says, gaze like black ice. “Don’t lie to me and say you aren’t doing it willingly. You turned to face him. I’m sorry he’s so much more interesting than I am—”

“He’s not, Jaxon. Of course he’s not.”

“Now, now, Grace, my brother asked you not to lie,” Hudson admonishes me. “But cut him some slack, will you? It’s not his fault he’s so damn boring.”

I glare at Hudson. “Stop it! He is not boring!”

“Could have fooled me.” Yet another yawn. “And here I thought you were supposed to be practicing the whole gargoyle thing this morning? Though, I have to admit, I like what you’ve done with the horns.”

“The horns?” Instinctively, I lift a hand to my left horn and feel it. “Oh my God, it’s bigger. How can it be bigger?”

“Now there’s a question I’m sure Jaxon’s never heard,” Hudson says dryly.

“I’m still here, you know,” Jaxon grinds out. “I’m right fucking here.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Jaxon. I’m so sorry. But he’s the most annoying person on the planet, and he refuses to shut up.”

“Careful, Grace. Keep that up and you’re going to hurt my feelings,” Hudson mocks.

“I couldn’t get that lucky!” I snap before turning back to Jaxon, who’s got a half-angry, half-amazed look on his face.

“Is this what he does all day?” he finally asks. “Just badgers you until you look like you’re about to explode?”

“He does it until I do explode, but yes. This is what he does. Over and over and over again.”

“Wow, snookums. You make me sound so powerful.” Hudson bats his eyes at me, but there’s a gleam of remorse in them, like maybe he thinks he’s gone too far. I don’t trust it, but then, I don’t trust anything about him. He’s probably just sad Jaxon and I are no longer at each other’s throats.

“Again, ouch.”

“Again, bite me.”

He’s not smiling, but I can see two fangs gleaming. “You keep offering that, and someone’s going to take you up on it.”

“Yeah, well, someone already has,” I retort.

“Don’t remind me.”

The usual amusement is gone from his tone. Everything is gone, and all that’s left is blankness—blank voice, blank face. I’d say blank body language except he lies back down on the field, kicks one ankle over the other knee, and holds No Exit up in front of his face as he starts to read.

It’s blatant—the “I don’t have a care in the world” and “fuck you very much” body language rolled into one—and I don’t have a clue what to say about it. Or how to feel about it.

Before I can figure it out, Jaxon says, “I’m sorry,” and he walks over and wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

I stiffen instinctively, then force myself to relax, even as I shift back to my human form. Because there’s no use being angry with him for being angry about this situation. Does it suck for me? Yes. Would I be pissed as hell if he had some girl in his head taking all his attention away from me, who knew everything about him before I did and worked really hard to make me feel completely out of the loop? Hell yes, I would.

So I bury my annoyance deep and wrap my arms around his body as I lean in to him. “No, I’m sorry. I know this can’t be easy for you.”

“None of this is easy for either of us,” he answers as he bends down and drops a soft kiss on the side of my neck. “I think I need to remember that more.”

“We both do,” I answer. “I’m sorry I get caught up in fighting with Hudson and I forget sometimes.”

“Don’t be sorry. Being annoying is my brother’s singular talent.”

“Whatever,” Hudson growls, and he sounds even more pissed than he did this morning. “It barely cracks the top ten of my talents.”

It takes every ounce of willpower I have, but this time I ignore him, keeping my attention completely focused on Jaxon—or at least as focused as I can considering Hudson is yammering away at me in the background.

“Thank you for understanding how hard this is for me. I know it’s hard for you, too, and I appreciate how much you’re trying to make this as easy for me as possible.”

Jaxon sighs, his arms tightening around me just a little as he responds. “Thank you for understanding my side of this mess, too. I promise, we’ll get him out of your head as soon as we possibly can.”

“Sooner than that would be better,” I joke, and it works. Jaxon laughs.

He holds me for several seconds longer, until we can see Flint and Macy entering the practice field with two other people I don’t know.

Jaxon drops another kiss on my neck before pulling reluctantly away. But just before he lets me go, he leans down and whispers, “Does he really know what underwear you’re wearing?”

“Black with white polka dots,” Hudson answers without looking up from his book.

I sigh. “He really does.”

Jaxon looks disgruntled, but he doesn’t say anything, thankfully.

Hudson, however, has no such qualms. “You should wear the red ones with the white flowers tomorrow, though. They’re my favorite.”

Before I can think of a comeback to that, Flint sneaks up behind me and grabs me in a giant bear hug. And as he swings me around—chanting “Grace, Grace, Baby” much to my chagrin—I can’t help but notice that Jaxon is showing a lot more fang than he usually does.

Then again, so is Hudson…

Forget YA novel, I’m living in the middle of a paranormal telenovela, and what happens next is anyone’s guess…

Fuck. My. Life.

61

The Monster Mash-Up

“You ready to show these guys how it’s done, Grace?” Flint asks when he finally drops me back on my feet.

“How what’s done?” I ask, surreptitiously checking to make sure all my clothes are in all the right places. Flint is a very enthusiastic hugger.

“How to fly, baby!” He throws his arms out and does a really bad impression of wings and flying as he zips around me like a three-year-old pretending to be an airplane—cute, sweet, and absolutely ridiculous.

“I’m ready for you to show them how it’s done,” I tell him.

“No way! We’re in this together. Well, you, me, and Eden.” He turns to the girl behind him with a grin and beckons her forward.

She gives him a look when he waves, like there’s no way she’s going to give him the satisfaction of responding to such a plebian method of communication. But after making him wait just long enough that everyone knows she’s moving only because she wants to, she swaggers toward us, all glorious hair and “don’t mess with me” attitude.

“This is Eden Seong,” Flint tells me when she finally reaches us. “She’s one of my closest friends and also happens to be fire with a Ludares ball.”

“And everything else,” she drawls, and somehow even her voice is cool.

I can’t believe I haven’t noticed her around school before, because she’s totally not the type to blend in. She’s tall like Macy, with straight black hair that falls all the way to her butt and thick, severely cut bangs that hit below her eyebrows to the very tops of her purple eyes. I look closer, sure that they’re just really blue, but nope. They’re totally purple and the coolest eyes I’ve ever seen.

She’s dressed completely in white—white workout pants, white tennis shoes, and white tank top that shows off a wild Korean dragon tattoo that stretches across her shoulders and down both her arms. So she’s a dragon like Flint then. Badass.

She’s got multiple piercings—several in her ears, plus her nose and her eyebrow—and each piercing is adorned with a glittering gemstone in a different color. She’s also wearing close to a dozen flashy jeweled rings on her fingers, but instead of being overkill, it all just kind of works together to make her sparkle even more.