Chapter 332. Accidents Happen All The Time II

Chapter 332: 332. Accidents Happen All The Time II

Maisie

"Not on that scale, no," Regina said, eyeing me strangely. And then she sniffed me. "Hey, is that a new cologne... Oh! Eewwwww! Oh my goodness!" She waved in front of me. "Hell no. Do I even want to know?"

Everyone within a five-mile radius probably already knew what we were talking about. With a heavy sigh of defeat, I dropped my hand and gave up on covering Jenny’s mouth.

I had finally transcended the plane of embarrassment.

Jenny scrambled closer instantly, her eyes glittering with morbid curiosity. She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, now conscious of the students milling around.

"I only have one question," she said. "Actually, I am speaking on behalf of the entire student body and half Ashbourne. What kind of position takes out a roof?"

Worry knotted my stomach, staring at my hands as we walked. "The kind that makes rifts," I whispered.

I glanced up at the sudden silence and found Jenny and Regina watching we with blank looks. "I’ve never heard of that one before," the latter said. "I might have to take notes for my next tryst."

Jenny wore a disgusted expression.

Right. I hadn’t told them yet.

I chewed on my bottom lip nervously. "I have something to tell you. And it might sound strange, but trust me, it’s all real."

"Stranger than what happened at the competition?" Regina mused.

"It’s... about that," I said quietly. "And a lot more. I should’ve told you sooner, but I didn’t think you would have believed me. Even I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t crazy."

It was time I stopped hiding things from them out of fear that it’d endanger them. They’d seen me through some of the hardest moments of my life and the least they deserved was some modicum of truth.

I had to tell Jenny why and how Lyon died. And to do that, I had to start from the beginning.

Seeing the intensity of my stare, a cloud of sadness came over her and her lips quivered, but she nodded. "I have a thing with Brody, but he can wait. We’ll stop by your room tonight. Have dinner together." Her smile wobbled. "Like old times."

I swallowed, starting to nod, but Regina said, "Can we do tomorrow instead? Dad threatened to cut me off again if I skip out on my peachy blind date tonight."

My brows arched. "Blind date?" It was really hard keeping up with Regina’s personal life, but I did recall Beta Braxton had been working hard at marrying her off to some distant Alpha’s son to save face after Lana’s engagement to Cole fell through.

I assumed that since they were back in each other’s pants, he would lay off of Regina’s back.

A semblance of worry pulled Regina’s brows together. "They won’t tell me what’s going on. Dad has been paranoid, and he’s been fighting with Mom a lot. About finances. Alliances. I think we might be going broke, which sucks. I suspect now that there are rumors the Night Shade isn’t doing so well, he’s trying to find a new Trojan horse to bark us to."

Huh. "What’s wrong with the Night Shade?" I asked, ignoring my Lycan’s eagerness at the thought of their downfall.

"We lost many members at that attack. The only reason Alpha Dante and Luna Kaida could stay afloat this past year was because of the Queen’s support. But something must have happened recently." She sighed, fiddling with the diamond bracelet around her delicate wrist. "I heard Dad tell Mum that they’ve lost the Queen’s favour and she’s cut them loose."

I imagined that was answer enough. But Jenny reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "I’m sure it’ll be fine."

I didn’t think it would be, but I didn’t want to be negative.

Losing the Queen’s favour often meant a number of things. The least worrisome of them being getting blacklisted. Her Dad’s status was largely tied to being the Beta of the Night Shade pack.

There were going to take a very terrible hit from this.

I didn’t know how to feel. On one hand I was sad for Regina. And on the other hand, I didn’t give a shit what happened to the rest of her family. Lana was trash. Mrs. Braxton was trash for delivering me to Lana and Tessa. I had thought of the possibility so many times, that she hadn’t known Lana’s plan, and I had trashed it just as fast.

She had to have known. She had never spoken to me much before that night. She hated me and thought I was the reason why Regina stayed away from home as often as she could. She also hated me because it had been proven you could either love my twin sister and hate me, or hate my twin sister and love me.

And Beta Braxton was a man who acted only for his own gain, even if it meant ruining someone else.

"It’s Lana who worries me, though," Regina muttered, "She’s been acting weird."

I didn’t ask. She was the reason I lost everything. I didn’t care about her anymore. She’d chosen a side. She chose that life. She could live in it and rot for all I cared.

"Maisie," Jenny called, and I caught the worried look she exchanged with Regina when my steps grew forced and annoyed. "We have no idea what they’re doing to her. She’s not well. Everyone thinks she’s on some kind of drug--"

I whirled, coming face to to face with Jenny. "We do not ever speak of her."

Jenny gasped and flinched back, hitting Regina as she backpedaled.

Her brown eyes were wide with fear. And I felt it inside me again, trying to rear its head. That steady hum that felt like power.

Conversation died in the hallway, and I caught my reflection in Jenny’s eyes for one second. They were glowing again, which explained the smell of fear rolling off her.

I forced my gaze down to the floor, pulling in a deep breath to calm myself. "I--I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you."

What was it with my control lately? Or the lack of it?

Jenny straightened, eyes searching mine. Then her expression went dark. "It’s true, then? She had something to do with..." Her voice cracked and her eyes went moist. "... that night?"

My bottom quivered and I sucked it in to hide it. I tried to find the words but my throat closed up.

Jenny suddenly lurched and pulled me in for a tight hug that crushed the air from my lungs. "I’ve been trying to apologize all day. I’m sorry. For hitting you. I knew you couldn’t have done it. You were pretty convincing and I felt like... I didn’t know you and I... I couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry."

I wrapped my arms around her, breathing in her soft scent of lilacs and the under lying scent of wolf musk and earthy human brought tears to my eyes, reminding me of Lyon. "I’m sorry, too." I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I am so sorry, Jenny."

Her fingers curled around Soren’s jacket and she sniffled. "Regina’s right. The scent is pretty strong. What did he do, spray paint you with it? Keep walking around like that and you’ll send the entire school into a horn-fest."

I choked on a cough, cringing away. She was right. I did stink.

Was I weird for liking it and not wanting to wash it off?

We rounded the edge of the lockers, towards the classroom doors, and someone bumped into me hard enough to knock me off my feet.

"Watch where you’re going!" Regina barked, and rubbing my smarting shoulder, I muttered, "It’s okay" when I saw it was only Kirby, too engrossed in one of her streams to look where she was going or apparently apologize.

I’d almost reached my seat when Kirby called out, "Maisie? I think you dropped this. Why, doesn’t this look identical to..."

I glanced over my shoulder and found her dangling the necklace Mercer had given me. It must’ve fallen out of my coat.

I turned, crossing to her in quick strides, and I snatched it out of her grip. But she was faster, holding it over her head. "Tessa has the same one," she said, eyes darting over to where Tessa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her pale, perfect skin taking on a pasty parlour. "She said there’s only two of these in the world."

Whispers ran down the rows of seats, eyes darting to the onyx stone around Tessa’s neck. If nothing had given it away, then Tessa’s uncomfortable and guilty expression did, and whispers began spreading in the hall.

Someone was faking it. And for the first time, I wasn’t on the receiving side of the laughter.

I snatched the necklace out of Kirby’s grasp, not wanting Mercer’s gift to be reduced to something as petty or silly as school gossip.

But the damage had already been done.

Tessa jerked to her feet abruptly, closing her fingers around the necklace. She ripped it off and threw it in the trash.

It might have been a fake, but I was pretty sure it still cost a lot.

Face red with anger, she snatched her things off her desk and stormed across the classroom. She halted a few steps away from me, her body shaking with venom. "It doesn’t matter. He’s going to marry me anyway. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it."

My breaths left in in quick exhales, and the rage rose again. But I stifled it. Being in Atlas’s office twice in one day wasn’t a good idea. So I smiled, even as pain twisted my gut. "Good luck with that." I leaned in and whispered with sweet acidity, "He knows."

The heavy stench of fear that those two words brought made me heady with satisfaction. In all of my time with the woman, she had never looked so scared.

Sure, she could marry him. If he didn’t kill her first.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then snapped it shut and hedged around me, giving me a wide berth as she stormed for the door.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was scared of me.

"She is scared of you," Regina pointed out, dropping into her seat. "After what you said and did in the bathroom this morning, she’d be stupid to ever cross you again."

"What?" I asked, settling back into my chair. "What did I say?"

Jenny’s frowned. "You don’t remember?"

I shook my head.

It was Juliette who responded from the seats behind, her eyes distant, like she wasn’t really there. "You said, One day, you will err. You will make a mistake, you poor thing. And I’ll be there, waiting for that moment with baited breath. And when it comes, it won’t be the girl ripping your succulent flesh to little pale ribbons. It will be me. I will wear your blood and hide like a coat of honour. We do not forget. You do not know what I am. I remember you. I think of you often. You will make a mistake soon. I can smell the desperation on you. And then, you will be mine."