Evil (10 page)

I swallowed painfully and tried to understand what she meant.

She sighed. “We’re like animals, Shay. It’s natural to sleep beside each other.”

As she said that, I knew she meant it. However, there was something else in her. Anger. Resentment. Jealousy. Before I could start to try to figure out which, she smiled tiredly and waved over her shoulder. “See you at school, Shay. I’m sure all eyes are going to be on us now.”

I’d called out another Braden in a class. She was right. They were all right. It wasn’t done, but I hadn’t understood why I had done it. I’d felt a sense of urgency at speaking the truth at that moment. Now, I knew that I’d wanted to break free from the Braden name. There were rules that went with being in our family, but I wasn’t totally one of them. I was different. Somehow. I felt that a part of me wanted to act on it, as if setting it in motion that I really wasn’t one of them. Then I remembered what else Kellan had said the night before.
“You’re my family.”

I might not share the same blood, the same demon blood, but he was right. I was still family to them… Wasn’t I?

“Look at you. He’s got his claws in you tight, doesn’t he?” Vespar drawled, leaning against his doorframe. He smirked. “You don’t even know what kind of spell he’s working, do you?”

“That’s enough.” Kellan appeared from the stairway, dressed in jeans and a simple white T-shirt.

The corner of Vespar’s mouth curled upward in an ugly smile. His eyes flashed an emotion I didn’t want to name before he turned and shut the door behind him. If he might’ve slammed it, it wouldn’t have shocked me, but when it closed quietly, softly, a shiver passed through me.

“He’s trying to get in your head. Don’t let him,” Kellan murmured, now beside me. His voice was soft as he watched me, studying me.

I straightened in my doorway and moved back a step. “Why would he want to get in my head?”

“To stop us from getting close.” Kellan tilted his head to the side. His eyes seemed to be piercing through me. “If the two of us formed as close a bond as those two, can you imagine how powerful we’d be?”

My head jerked back. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about war, between you and me and them.”

“Why would you say something like that?” My voice was husky.

“Because that’s what he’s thinking. He knows we’re close, but not as much as those two. He’s fearful of what might happen if we do become that close. It’s what he would do. That’s what he’s thinking in his head.”

Kellan smiled sadly and straightened away from me. He held on to the doorframe above my head and tapped it absentmindedly with his finger. “That’s how Vespar thinks, Shay. That’s not what I intend. It’s not what you intend, but it’s what he’s filling her head with. He thinks there might be a time when the lines are drawn, and he’s scared what side I might choose.”

“So, he already knows I’ll be on the opposite side?” Why didn’t this surprise me?

“No.” Kellan touched my shoulder lightly. “He’s scared of you, but he’s more scared of me. He’s afraid I’ll go against him…and if you take my side, we’re unstoppable. The only saving grace he has is that he hasn’t gone against me, and you haven’t come into your powers yet.”

The whole idea of siblings against siblings didn’t sit right with me. I curled a hand over my stomach, as if warding it off, but it didn’t matter. My stomach still rolled over on itself, sick once again.

“I can drive you to school…” Kellan murmured.

“No,” I barked out, hoarse. “I’ll drive myself.”

“Okay.” He didn’t ask why, but I felt like I’d hurt him somehow. As he turned and went downstairs, I watched him go. His shoulders were strong, tense. His waist was trim. Gus was right. We didn’t have to work for our bodies, but I felt that if Kellan had been fully human, he’d still have the same body. Then, with my hand still curled around my waist, I turned into my own room. After dressing in a light fabric black sweater that hung down to my knees and black tights that stopped just above my calves, I darted downstairs and to my car. I wasn’t hungry. I was never hungry, so it didn’t matter if I ate or not. My body didn’t need a lot of food. It didn’t need caffeine either, but I still enjoyed the taste of coffee and lattes in the morning. Once I stopped to get one, I was ready for the day. And as soon as I got to school, I felt it in the air.

Something had changed. Something was different with our school. When I went inside, everyone parted for me as they always did, but there was a different feel surrounding everyone.

“It’s because of Matt,” Gus answered my question when I got to my locker. I looked up, my bag halfway in, and she shrugged. “He was the reigning human here. You changed him—you and Kellan—now everyone feels it. They don’t know what they’re feeling, but they are. You see his little football buddies?” She nodded in their direction.

I turned to look. There they were—four of his best friends who always surrounded him, doing whatever Matt told them to do. Today, they stood apart from him. They talked to each other, laughed with each other, as Matt stood just to the side with a confused look on his face.

Gus grinned. “He doesn’t even know what happened.”

Vespar strolled toward us in that moment, and I turned with my back to my locker. My eyes caught his, and a challenge hung from him. My throat was tight, but Gus laughed as he passed by. “He thinks you did this on purpose, like you want to shove it down his throat what you can do. Not me. I think you did what you always do. You got angry and did something on accident, then Kellan stepped in and fixed it. Am I right?”

Was she ever?

“I think it’s funny,” Gus went on to say, still leaning against my neighbor’s locker. Her bare shoulder touched the metal, but she didn’t seem to mind. She wore a halter-top and tight blue jeans. “They’re all clueless to what’s happened. Their esteemed leader can’t be their leader anymore. Now, we get to watch them squirm and figure out who’s the next leader. Mark my words. Two guys will throw down by the end of the day. It’s just like Kellan and Vespar. One day, they’re going to throw down. Vespar would love to now, but he knows Kellan can kick his ass.”

My eyes went to hers. That meant that… Kellan’s words suddenly haunted me. Did he know? How long had he known?

Gus smiled brightly. “No worries, sister. I’ll always love you.” Then she sauntered away, flirting over her shoulder with a few guys who watched her go, her hips swaying back and forth.

I turned to close my locker, but something tingled in the back of my neck. I turned and saw Kellan watching us from a distance. Leah stood beside him with some of her friends behind her. They all watched him as he watched me, studying me. His eyes were guarded, but I tried to send a small smile to him. It was like I wanted to reassure him about something, but I didn’t know what. It failed miserably. Kellan’s eyes narrowed when he saw this attempt, and his jaw tightened.

Leah and her friends skirted away, nervous. They all had confused looks on their faces.

Gus was right. So much happened that humans didn’t know about. Their bodies sensed it, but their minds weren’t in tune with their bodies. It was like they were the dumb animals, and we were the predators. We knew what was going on, they didn’t.

I sighed with my textbook against my chest and headed to class.

The next few days were tense. Vespar and Gus stuck to themselves. Kellan stayed away from me and even the house. He didn’t sleep there for the next week. I didn’t ask why or where he went, but I didn’t think anyone else did either. It seemed that everyone was at an impasse, and no one wanted to spark something that could change everything.

As for school, Gus had been right. Two of Matt’s closest buddies were in a shoving match in the school parking lot at the end of that day. Matt stood by, dumbfounded. We’d changed him permanently, like he’d been rewired inside or taken the fight out of him, but he was no longer their leader. Instead, the winner had been Dylan Cavanagh. He was another football player, typical douche, and he walked around school with his arm on some trophy. Those girls all looked the same to me: skinny, pretty, long legs.

The last day Dylan had started eyeing Gus and me. I used to enjoy playing with guys like him, teasing, making them confused. Now, I stayed away, although I doubted Gus would do the same. I was sure she would play her usual games with him, but I didn’t want to know what those were.

In the last week, I learned I didn’t want to ask any more questions. The entire event of going against Vespar in class and everything that unfolded afterward had left a bad taste in my mouth. And learning that Kellan knew things about me didn’t sit well in my stomach. Everything had become chaotic, and I wasn’t sure how much more I wanted to take.

“Kellan’s not at school again,” Vespar commented as he stopped by my locker. He had a guarded look on his face, but he still managed to glance around with a smirk.

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Where is he? Did you two have a fight?”

“I thought it was because of you.”

“What do you mean by that?” He straightened and looked directly at me.

“You’re the one he wasn’t happy with. Not me. Or do you not remember last week correctly?”

A sneer flashed over his face, but it was gone instantly. “I remember you calling me out, and that he decided you could talk however you liked to me. Or am I wrong, Shay?” He leaned closer to me, almost in my face.

I glanced around and saw that everyone seemed to be aware of us. A few quickly looked away, but some stared blankly, enraptured by the tension between my brother and me. “Better watch out. You’re doing what I did to you, and by the way, I didn’t mean it how you took it. I didn’t mean to go against you. I just…” I couldn’t tell him that I wanted to break free, break away from the Braden rules. Vespar would think that was even more of an insult, like I was better than him, than the Braden name.

Vespar rolled his eyes and shifted so no one could see our faces. He spoke in a low voice, “I stand by what I said at the house. You’re pissing on us, and you don’t care. That makes me mad, but Gus wants us to make up. She wants things right, so fine. Whatever. As far as I’m concerned, you and I are fine. I hold no ill will toward you. Okay?”

It felt more like an order than a truce offering. I nodded, though. “Fine.”

Relief rolled off his shoulders, and he straightened. A little more bounce seemed to be in his frame again. “So, really, where is Kellan?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, Vespar. I wasn’t lying. He’s not happy with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? You disrespected him to his face. You told me that he had his hooks in me. You don’t think he didn’t hear that? He’s staying away for a reason, and things were fine with him and me. It’s you. I’d be worried if I were you.”

He frowned.

Giuseppa chose that moment to throw an arm around her brother and laugh as she poised next to the lockers. “How are things going? Are we all a loving family again? I certainly hope so.” When neither of us commented, her eyes danced between us, and a small frown appeared. “What’s wrong? What now?”

Vespar shoved her arm off and stalked down the hallway. Dylan chose that moment to turn into our hallway, right in front of Vespar, with his arm around a different girl. He stopped, saw a Braden coming his way, and glanced to the side. Then his shoulders straightened, and his feet stayed firm. Vespar saw it all as he kept approaching, reached out, grabbed Dylan’s shirt collar, and slammed him into the lockers. Two girls screamed and scattered out of the way.

“Oh God,” Giuseppa groaned. “What did you say to him?”

I watched as Vespar punched Dylan and then threw him onto the ground. None of his friends rushed to defend him or even help him from the floor. Then my brother continued on his way, his shoulders seemingly less tense.

I arched an eyebrow. That was interesting. “I just told him that Kellan must be staying away because of him, not me. Kellan and I were fine.”

“What?” Fear sparked in her eyes. “You said that?”

“It’s true. Vespar was out of line, not me. I spoke the truth, and then Vespar called me out. You think that made Kellan happy? Then he called out Kellan later when he asked why he let me talk to him that way. That’s like a slap in Kellan’s face. Then the next morning, he told me Kellan had his hooks in me. He heard him. Vespar’s got a problem, and he knows it. I can’t believe he said half of what he did.”