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  “I like it,” I said.

  “When are you going to return home?” Manny asked.

  I frowned and told her the truth, even knowing my father would disapprove. “I can’t until my father says it’s okay for me to come home. He probably won’t remember until morning. Don’t let me bother you, though. I’ll leave, so that you can sleep.” I stood up, and made my way to the window.

  Manny’s small hands grabbed my arm before I could get very far. I stopped and turned to face her. She dropped her hands like my skin had scalded her, and that same lightness in my chest dimmed again. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can stay here for a little while. I don’t mind. C’mon.”

  She tugged on my hand until we got over to the bed. I pulled my shoes off, watching as Manny pulled the covers back and slid between the sheets. I didn’t move until she stared up at me. She patted the spot next to her, and said, “I don’t want you wandering around at night by yourself. C’mon.”

  I sat on the very edge of her bed. With some pulling and cajoling, she convinced me to crawl into the bed next to her. We laid close enough that we nearly touched, and those scant centimeters bothered me. So close to feeling the warmth, and softness of her skin but unable to feel it at the same time.

  She tucked her arm underneath her head, smiling at me. “There. Everything’s right with my world.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “For letting me stay here.”

  She nodded her head, then turned around so that she faced the opposite direction from me. We laid in silence for several long minutes before I reached across the small space, and put the tips of my fingers on the drawing that I had done for her. It was still on her arm but the ink looked faded. Soon, it would be gone altogether. I traced the lines with my fingers.

  Manny looked at me from over her shoulder. “I’m going to keep it until it can’t be kept anymore.”

  “I can draw you something else,” I offered.

  “When this fades, or you can use my other arm,” she said, and smiled. “Or my hands. My neck...”

  I smiled back at her, and it didn’t feel wrong on my face for once. It always sat so wrong before.

  I pressed my fingers against her skin a little more, tracing the lines. “You’re warm. And soft,” I said as my fingers trailed down her arm, over her elbow, and slowly, ever so slowly, down to her wrist. I felt her pulse pounding in that thick vein, and pressed against it. Her life beat against me, her blood ran underneath the thin surface of her skin, and I liked to feel it.

  My fingers traveled back up her arm, then to her side. She sucked in a breath, and I felt the air enter her lungs through my hand. Her heart pounded so hard that the blood felt like a beat behind my eyes. A steady drum that thudded over and over with one simple message. ‘I am alive’.

  Manny turned without rolling over so that she could stare at me. It moved her arm from under my hand completely, so that my fingers rested against her side. The shirt she wore had rucked up, so I felt the skin of her stomach on my hand. It was softer, fine like silk. Her blood quivered beneath my tongue but I kept my fingers sliding back and forth against her belly.

  Her breathing hitched, and she closed her eyes. Pale lashes fanned out across her cheeks, like the ghosts of spider’s legs. Her mouth hung slightly open, and I thought that her lips looked soft too. Everything about her was gentle and soft. I wanted to stay there forever and never go away.

  My hand traveled down, to the very edge of her panties. That’s when she grabbed my wrist. “Becket, can you stop now?”

  “Okay,” I said, and pulled away from her. I moved so that my chest no longer touched her back, and she was free from my touch completely. I settled against the pillow, relaxing.

  Manny didn’t say anything for a few minutes but only those few. She rolled over so that she could look at me. “I didn’t mean that you couldn’t touch me. I meant...”

  “You didn’t want me touching anything sensitive. I know,” I said.

  She stared at me for several seconds, her lips compressed into a thin line. “I’m sorry,” she blurted.

  “For what?” I asked. “If you don’t want to be touched, then I have no right to touch you.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it. Thoughts chased across her eyes, and I thought I understood why she felt like she needed to explain herself. She didn’t. It was strange that she would believe such a thing.

  “I’m not dumb or simple,” I said. “I just keep thinking someone will eventually like me without wanting something from me or hurting me. I think that’ll be you. So, if you don’t want me to do something, then tell me. It won’t hurt my feelings, and you don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

  Manny sighed, tucking her arm underneath her head again. “I don’t think you’re dumb, Becket. I never have.”

  “Thank you,” I said, meaning it.

  She ran her fingers over the surface of her pillow for several seconds before looking back at me. “And I won’t hurt you. That’s something you’ll never have to worry about. Can you tell me something?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Did your father kick you out of the house tonight?”

  I frowned. “He didn’t kick me out. He said that I could leave, or he could give me something to help me sleep. I did not feel like sleeping until tomorrow afternoon. So, I left.”

  “Does he do that often?”

  “No,” I said. “His patients stop coming by before dinner most nights. This was a special case. I’ll be able to sleep at home tomorrow with no problems.”

  Manny nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said.

  Her eyes were starting to get droopy, so I stopped talking. I laid in the bed next to her, watching her drift in and out of sleep in a lazy seesaw. When she finally succumbed, I planned to slip out of the house, so that she wouldn’t have to bother with me when she awoke. That didn’t happen because she rolled over and trapped one of my arms. I couldn’t get myself free without waking her. So, I stayed, not wanting to disturb her.

  Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

  X

  Something rested on my chest when I woke up. At first, I was too groggy to do anything but lay there. But then the thing nudged my shoulder, and I peeled my eyes open. Manny had nudged my shoulder with her hand. I blinked, rubbing at my eyes, wiping the last of the sleep from them.

  I was still in her room, in her bed. She laid half on me, and one of her legs had slipped between mine. When my eyes stopped being so blurry, I looked at her again. Her hair was a mess, sticking up from her head in every direction. I wanted to smooth it down, just to feel all the strands but I managed to refrain from doing so.

  “Good morning,” I said.

  She returned the favor but then frowned. “I’m afraid we’ve got a problem. My parents are up, and I think my brother is, too.”

  “How is that a problem?” I asked.

  She smiled. “They probably wouldn’t like finding a boy in my bed.”

  “I can leave through the window. They don’t have to know that I’m here at all.” I sat up, planning on doing just that. Manny’s hand on my arm stopped me from climbing out the window. I stared at her, confused. She said that she wanted me to leave. Hadn’t she?

  “Why don’t you slip around the front of the house and ring the doorbell?” she asked.

  I frowned. “Then I’d have to meet your parents.”

  “I know,” Manny informed me.

  “They won’t like me,” I told her. “They probably won’t like you spending time with me.”

  Her face darkened, and her eyes sparkled with something very nearly violent. “I don’t care. Come around and ring the doorbell. You and I can do something today.”

  “Okay,” I said, climbing out of the bed. She shuffled out of the room as I pulled my shoes on. I quickly finger-combed my hair, then climbed out her window to go ring the doorbell. Safely out of her room, I checked my phone and discovered that my father h
ad texted me some time after one in the morning, saying I could come home.

  My stomach turned over as I sent him a text, letting him know that I was all right. It was all I had time for before the door opened. A woman stood on the other side. She stared down at me; an eyebrow raised. Her expression already hinted at being over my presence.

  “Hello,” I said. “I came to see Manny.”

  “Who are you?” the woman demanded.

  “I’m a friend of hers,” I said.

  “Since when did Manny have any friends?” she asked me.

  “Since about Wednesday,” I said.

  The woman cocked her head at me, and leaned close. Unlike when most people got close to me, I didn’t like her presence. It felt invasive. I could feel her blood rushing through her veins, and knew that it would be so easy to kill her. To pull all that blood out of her pores, her eyes, her mouth, and throat. It would be so easy but I didn’t.

  It would upset Manny.

  “Who is it?” another voice boomed from in the house. A second later, a man appeared behind Manny’s mother. He acted like he was taller than he actually was. Stalking into the room, instead of walking. He stared at me like I was something he found underneath a rock.

  “This is a friend of Manny’s,” her mother said, waving vaguely at me. “Were you aware that she had friends?”

  “No,” her father growled. Then he blinked and stared at the woman. “Well, don’t just stand there. Let the boy in. Do you expect him to freeze to death out there because you’re suspicious?”

  The woman bristled. She turned angry eyes onto me and said, “Come in. Please.”

  The words were spoken through her teeth. I stepped into the house after her, and the tension pulsed through the air.

  I hoped Manny would come upstairs quickly.

  Chapter Ten

  Bad Girl

  Manny

  I ran around my room like that little mouse guy in a cartoon I used to watch when I was little. Becket alone with my parents was not a good idea but it wasn’t like I could have changed in front of him. Well… I could have, I guess. Becket would have closed his eyes if I asked him to. I trusted him, and I honestly couldn’t picture him wanting to see me like that anyway.

  Or, I used to think that. Then we had adult fun time last night, and I didn’t know anything anymore. He hadn’t needed to tell me he wasn’t dumb because it was obvious. You didn’t grow up like he had and not learn a thing or two. It was a matter of how he saw things. And because of that, it would have been stupid for me to assume that the touch was meant to be sexual. It was more skin to him, a human connection he had never had. I doubted he even knew what he was doing.

  That didn’t keep it from feeling really... really nice.

  I threw on a yellow dress, black thigh-high socks, and boots. Then I ran up the stairs, hoping my parents didn’t do anything to upset Becket. The thought of that sent a stinging feeling through my body.

  I got to the top of the stairs and the front door, stumbling with all the grace of a drunk cat. My chest pumped as I caught my breath, and then leaned against the stairs going up.

  “Hey, guys,” I said, gasping and weak. That’s right, Manny. Casual as fuck.

  My dad’s eyes narrowed at me suspiciously. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  My parents both missed the look Becket gave them but it was more hostile than I’d seen on him yet. Though even if they’d been looking, I doubted they could tell. Becket wasn’t big on facial expressions that were obvious.

  “Nothing,” I said. “I just... ran.”

  “Why?” Mom asked.

  I shrugged. “Cardio.”

  My father rolled his eyes, and I saw him notice the faded ink on my arm. He didn’t say anything but I knew he didn’t like it. It wasn’t the kind of thing he would think looked respectable, and I had a reputation and legacy to protect. Couldn’t let people see a little drawing on my skin.

  “Becket,” I declared, sounding utterly gleeful. Thank God he wouldn’t figure out why. It hadn’t been on purpose but it was a relief to see him, even after the whole night sleeping together, and only two minutes apart.

  “You have a friend,” Mom stated.

  I nodded. “Yup. I do.”

  She arched an eyebrow at me. “How did that happen?”

  I resisted the urge to be mouthy and say something that would get me smacked. “We just started talking. He’s very nice.”

  I made my way over to Becket, carefully getting him away from my parents and closer to the door. If I could have, I would have taken his hand, and pulled him out of the house. That was something I would have had to answer for later, so I didn’t.

  My dad examined the lack of space between us, and made some assumptions. “He’s your boyfriend or something?”

  I blushed bright red. “We’re just friends,” I said.

  “Yes,” Becket agreed. “Since Wednesday, as I said.”

  I nodded.

  Dad looked at him, and without any lead up or couth, he said, “What kind of magic do you work?”

  FUCK!

  “Blood,” Becket said, hardly hesitating. But I saw a little there, a short pause where he would normally just say what the answer was. While he didn’t seem to dislike what he could do, he was observant enough to know that dumbasses would have been a little freaked out about it.

  The messed up thing was that we would have had the same fate, if not for who my family was. I worked skin, which was pretty much on the same level as Becket’s magic. But my family had a lot of money, and were respected in this town. I got the odd jerk here and there that would tease me about my magic but not like Becket. It wasn’t fair.

  “Blood,” my mother repeated.

  “Yes,” Becket said.

  I cut in. “What about it?” I said, almost snapping at Mom.

  “Nothing,” she responded, just as hostile. “I find your choice of company interesting.”

  “Yet not at all surprising,” Dad added.

  That little flame in my chest exploded, and I couldn’t contain it. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you guys would have a problem with my choice in friends because of their magic. Tell ya what, how about next time I meet someone I like, I’ll have them make up a resume for me, and you can go over it. Does that sound good to you?”

  It was like I was watching myself say these things, and I couldn’t stop it at all. The words came out and hovered in the air. I would pay for them.

  “Manny,” my father said, deceptively calm. “Can I speak with you downstairs?”

  I looked to my mother, who knew what was about to happen to me. She said nothing at all, gazing at the floor. The woman never once made a move to stop him. Not today, and none of the yesterday’s I’d crawled through.

  “Manny,” Becket said softly.

  I didn’t want him to know what was about to happen, so I turned to him with the sweetest lying smile I could muster. “It’s fine, sweetheart.” I took his hand, squeezed it, and then ran my thumb over the top. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  And I let my father take me downstairs.

  The second we were out of sight, he shoved me against the wall. He took my jaw in one hand, gripping me so tight that I worried the bone would fracture.

  “Never, ever, speak to me like that,” he said through his teeth. “Not in my house, and not in front of some little psycho you dragged home. When I ask you a question, you answer it with respect. Do you understand me?”

  It was hard to nod with the grip he had but I did.

  “Good,” he said. “Don’t let it happen again. And you better not think twice about screwing that blood worker. I will not have another mistake in this family.”

  Yeah, god forbid I make a non-metal worker. My father would lose his mind and make that child vanish quickly. Especially with me only being eighteen. He’d probably lock me in the house until I had it, and then take it far from here.

  “He’s just my friend,” I said.

/>   “He better be. If I find out there’s anything going on, then you’re not leaving your room for a fucking year. And I will make sure that boy never wants to come near this house again.”

  Fire bubbled again. “Are you threatening him?”

  Dad smiled. “I don’t need to. I’m sure he’ll get sick of you soon enough. Why would he want to stick around to be your friend?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, realizing he was right.

  “Because there’s nothing special about you.” He held me tighter, pressing my skull painfully against the wall behind it.

  I nodded. “There’s nothing special about me.”

  “Because you’re nothing.”

  “I’m nothing.”

  “Because you don’t matter.”

  “I don’t matter.”

  “Because you’re worthless.”

  “I’m worthless.”

  “Good girl.”

  “Thank you.”

  He released me, smiling. “Was that so hard?”

  I shook my head. “No, sir. I promise that there’s nothing between Becket and I.”

  His arm went around my shoulders. “I know because I trust you. You wouldn’t be dumb enough to waste my time, or his time, like that. One day, some nice boy is going to come along, and he’ll want you. He needs to be respectful and smart. It’ll take a long time but someone will want you. You’re such a good girl. My sweet good girl.”

  I blinked. “Thank you, Daddy,” I said again.

  Dad tucked loose hair behind my ear. “And?”

  “And, I’m sorry for being rude.”

  “Thank you for realizing your mistake. You’re much better about it than your brother. He’s got such a temper.”

  I shrugged. “Is it okay if I go out today? All my homework is finished, and I don’t have anything else to do.”

  He started walking me back to the stairs, talking at normal volume then. “You need to pick up a shift at the store. We don’t have a replacement yet. Work until six, and then you’re free.”

  Ugh, I hated the ten-hour shifts. My feet started hurting, and I always almost fell asleep on the floor. But I agreed because it wasn’t my choice in the end.