Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (17 page)

After a sleepless night, Ava begrudgingly readied herself for school. She knew she’d have to face Thomas and briefly considered skipping school, but the thought of seeing Peter made her go. Her heart pounded as she felt Thomas’ss immense anger. She grabbed her pendant, and it grew warmer.

Ava arrived at school and her predictions were right when Thomas didn’t meet her at her car. She knew he was upset, but also knew he’d come find her
eventually. Or maybe he finally realized she was serious about breaking up.

Melissa was there, however, arms crossed in front of her, and angry. She wore a wide black band around her face, holding back her hair and yoga pants with a sweatshirt. Ava got out of her car, and Melissa immediately hugged her.

“Don’t you ever do that to me,” she said. “It was like you died. I couldn’t feel you at all.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What happened?”

“Thomas
freaked out as usual over nothing.”

“
You took your necklace off. I freaked out too. Tell me.”

Ava
just wanted to go to class, and knew she couldn’t avoid this conversation for too long, but she would try. “Why didn’t we practice last night?”

“
I still had somewhat of a migraine, but I talked to Savina and Colden yesterday. They said we weren’t focusing hard enough. As for your hand, she said Thomas needed to try harder.”

“Why didn’t any of you tell me you weren’t going
to school yesterday?”

“
None of us felt well. Why? Did you go?” Melissa narrowed her eyes.

Ava hated the way she looked at her, as if she was judging her.
“I had a test,” she mumbled.

“
Was it called ‘Peter’?”

“No.”

“Oh come on, I know all about your homework and tests. Out with it.”

“Fine
. I went so I could see Peter. And you all weren’t there so I had to sit with his friends, who hate me.”

“I told you those
people aren’t worth our time.”

“Peter was fine.
Valerie and Amanda kept accusing me of being like Xavier. I don’t understand their anger.”

“We’re different.
We scare them.”

“
Maybe.”

“
How were you even able to talk to them? Didn’t you feel awful?”

Ava took a breath.
“About that. It was the weirdest thing. The second I saw Peter, the migraine vanished.”

“Vanished?”

“Yes, and when we parted, it came back. When I collapsed after Xavier hit me, I woke and Peter was there. I felt no pain, but as soon as he left, I did.”

“
Really? Maybe you don’t think about the pain when he’s around.”

“I don’t know.
”

“
What happened last night?”

Damn. She almost got away with it
. “I don’t want to tell you.”

“You can trust me you know.”

“Gillian said the same.”

“She really didn’t say anything to me
about you and Peter. I just figured things out on my own. I see the way he looks at you.”

“He
came over last night to apologize for his friends. One thing led to another and I sorta told him I liked him. Of course, my necklace went off, and then Thomas came. He saw that Peter was leaving and got angry.”

Melissa exhaled
, and her green eyes held a stern look. “Ava,” she took her hand. “You have to stop this. You can’t let it get any deeper than it already is. What do you think will happen if Peter finds out what you are? Think he’ll still be the same? Or do you think he’ll agree with Valerie?”

“
I know.” She wanted to tell Melissa about her parents.

But didn’t.

“I don’t want us broken. And I don’t want the elders getting angry because we can’t keep our group together. Besides, maybe Xavier will leave Peter alone if you’re not around him anymore.”

“
I got it.”

Melissa hooked an arm around Ava’s neck. “
Come on. Let’s get this day over with.”

When they reached the courtyard, Melissa gave Ava an annoyed look and then rolled her eyes. It was teeming with shouting people, obvious that a fight was about to break out. Ava shook her head at the ignorance of boys and their need to brawl. She shuddered when she heard a loud smack and then the crowd oo’d in unison.

Melissa sighed. “Stupid boy—.”

“Stay away from her!”

They both halted their steps. Thomas.

Fighting through the thick, boisterous crowd, Ava found him with his hand in a fist in the air aimed at someone she couldn’t see. Her heart pounded as she pushed harder until she was in the open circle the crowd made. The other person on the ground was Peter.

“Thomas, stop,” she screamed and pushed him. Ava glared at Thomas. His blue eyes were dark and full of rage. His hulking body towered over her, but she wasn’t afraid.

“Move,” he demanded in a grim voice.

“No.” She glanced at Peter and when she saw his bloody lip, a lump formed in her throat. She wanted to console him but couldn’t.

“What the hell are you doing?” Melissa yelled as she broke through the crowd.

“I’m about to pummel this kid,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, you wish,” Peter said.

Thomas’ss eyes shifted to behind Ava. He pushed her out of the way and Melissa caught her. Then, Thomas tackled Peter, and both of them threw punches.

“Stop,” Ava screamed and then she and Melissa grabbed Thomas off Peter.

The bell sounded, and the crowd slowly dispersed, giving space to the circle they made.

Ava pressed her hands into
Thomas’s chest, but his eyes glared at Peter. Melissa was checking on Peter.

“Leave him alone,” she said.

“Not until you stop seeing him,” he demanded.

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“No? You know what Gillian can do if you don’t listen to me,” he lowered his voice.

Ava’s stomach dropped, and her breath lodged in her throat, but she continued the staring match with Thomas. There was no way she was going to allow Gillian to manipulate Peter’s mind.

“Thomas, don’t you dare,” Melissa warned.

“Just leave her alone,” Peter said.

“Peter, go,” Ava insisted.

“Ava.”

Thomas smiled. He pulled Ava against his hard chest and pressed his lips to hers. It was a kiss like before, passionate, making her knees weak. His intense love enveloped her, but there was something else.
Her
love for him. Where had that come from?

When it ended, she pushed him away, embarrassed. She turned around, but Peter was gone.

What was that? It had felt as if she were in a trance. Why did she have such a reaction to his kiss?

“What is wrong with you?” Melissa asked. “Did you really need to do that?”

Gillian came up behind Thomas, chewing gum. “What’s going on?”

“Oh you just missed a schoolyard fight,” Melissa said. “Because Thomas can’t figure out how to calm down. What were you thinking?” she asked Thomas. “Fighting with an
Ephemeral? Are you stupid?”

“He threw the first punch.”

“I don’t care. You could have killed him.”

He shrugged. “Fine by me.”

Ava balled her hands into a fist, and sent it across his face.

Gillian gasped. “Omigod, Ava. What’s wrong with you?”

Thomas massaged his jaw, and then grinned, but it wasn’t friendly. The muscle in his jaw twitched and he never said a word as he walked away.

Ava had to find Peter and make sure he was okay. She turned to walk away but Melissa grabbed her by the wrist.

“Where are you going?”

Ava released herself. “To see if he’s okay,” she said, and then jogged toward the parking lot.

A light mist trickled down onto her face, cooling it. Thomas made it clear that he would harm Peter further, and that Gillian would tamper with his mind if she kept seeing him. She couldn’t believe it had gotten so out of hand that her friends threatened violence. There were others she needed to worry about, but never thought she’d have to protect him from her own friends.

She spotted him near his car, and then picked up her pace. “Peter,” she called and he turned around.

When Ava neared, she winced at the sight of his swelling lip and bloodied nose. Anger, regret, and then sadness filled his eyes.

“Peter, I’m so sorry about that. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he snapped. He opened his car door and slung his backpack inside.

She moved closer, but he held up his hand.

“You know what I don’t get?” he asked, and then gave a disgusted laugh. “How bad he treats you, and yet you’re still so much in love with the guy.”

She wanted to explain why she had such a response
to Thomas’ss kiss, but she didn’t know why. “Peter, we can’t hang out anymore.”

He gave a disappointed look. “Is this really what you want or did Thomas threaten you?”

“This is what I want.” Her voice sounded strange, but she hoped he believed her. “What I said yesterday, I just meant I like you as a friend.”

“You know I don’t believe that.”

“Believe what you want.”

He shook his head, and then looked at her intensely. “
You need to stay away from him, Ava.”

“I can’t.”

“You could if you really wanted to. Ava, he’s abusing you, and it’s only going to get worse the longer you stay with him.”

Her eyes blurred and she looked away from his heated gaze. “It’s not what you think.”

“You’re so blind to it, because you’re obviously still in love with him for some reaso
n.”

“
Maybe you should just mind your own business,” she snapped, though she immediately wished she could take back the harsh words.

“Fine. If this is really what you want, I’ll leave you alone.”

“Good.” She walked away, and heard him drive off. She knew she had to let him keep believing she was still in love with Thomas. It gave her the out she needed to keep him safe. This was the right thing to do. To keep him out of danger, Ava had to make the sacrifice.

But Ava still couldn’t understand why she had reacted
as if she really was in love with Thomas when he kissed her. It was as if someone had made her feel that way.

Ava stiffened.
Gillian. Had she used her power on her?

***

Later that night at the cabin, Ava entered still angry with Thomas and Gillian. She’d spent all afternoon trying to figure out what she was going to say to her so-called best friend of ten years. This was betrayal, and Ava was appalled and hurt.

They were all sitting in the main room around a blazing fire in the fireplace. Gillian
was checking her reflection in her mirror and Jeremy was reading. Melissa and Lance were engaged in a conversation but stopped as Ava stood near the door.

Gillian looked up and smiled, but Ava wanted to wipe it from her face. How could she be so smug?

“Hey,” she said. “Ready to practice?”

Ava clenched her teeth. “How dare you?”

She raised her eyebrows and looked from Melissa back to Ava. “I’m sorry?”

Jeremy lowered his book.

Ava folded her arms in front of her. “You used your power on me.”

“What?” Melissa asked.

Gillian crossed her arms. “So what if I did?” She shrugged.

“What the hell did you do?” Melissa demanded.

“When Thomas kissed me this morning, she made me think I loved him,” Ava said. “How could you do that? I can’t believe you.”

“It needed to be done,” Gillian argued. “You aren’t supposed to be flaunting around with some
Ephemeral. Besides, you’re supposed to be with Thomas.”

“You what?” Jeremy asked. His mouth was agape and his topaz eyes widened in shock.

“G, we are
not
supposed to be doing that,” Melissa said. “We’re supposed to trust each other.”

“Yeah, like that worked well.” She grimaced. “She’s been sneaking around with Peter.”

“I have not,” Ava said.

Gillian let out a hard laugh. “What do you call last night? I can’t believe you’d betray us like that.”

“You used your power on me, and I’m the one who’s disloyal?”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and sighed. “She’s not betraying us, Gillian.”

“Are you on her side now?”

“There are no sides.” He raised his voice. “We’re in this together. She hasn’t done anything wrong. Do you want Thomas to keep hurting her?”