“Uh oh.” Tiffany looked at me nervously. “What happened?”

“It turns out her ex is a Pteron and he kidnapped her best friend from high school in an attempt to get her back.”

“Is that all of it?” Hailey looked at me.

“Pretty much.” I took out my stress on a throw pillow. That poor thing had put up with a lot lately.

Anne’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s insane! Where’s your friend?”

“Jared got some intel that she’s fine. She’s being kept in a house somewhere. Jared and Levi say they can’t get her until they find out more. Otherwise, she’ll just be at risk again.” The part I didn’t say was that Anne and Tiffany would be at risk too. Anyone who knew me probably was. There was no way I was letting any more of my friends get pulled into the mess that was my life.

“Have you thought about how random it is that you’ve dated two Pterons?” Tiffany said carefully.

“It can’t be random. I need to find out why.” I had a feeling it was the key to figuring out how to protect everyone around me.

Chapter Seven

“What do you know about Georgina?” I asked Jared as we waited for our professor in Organic Chemistry II. It was the first day, but I knew the professor would jump right in because it was just a continuation of the semester before.

“Levi’s grandma? Not too much. She’s a pretty intense lady. Actually, she kind of reminds me of you.” He smiled at a blonde who was eyeing him from across the aisle before turning his attention back to me.

“What?”

“You both scare me.”

I lightly punched his arm. “I do not scare you.”

“She says after she assaults me.”

“If I assaulted you, you’d know it.”

“Is that a threat?” He smirked.

“Do you feel threatened?”

“Very.” He leaned over and whispered. “You are a very threatening princess.”

“Be careful or I’ll beat you up with my tiara.”

“Just don’t break it. That thing has been in the Laurent family for years.”

“What? I was joking. I actually have a tiara?” I pulled out the brand-spanking-new light weight laptop Levi bought me for Christmas.

“Of course. Helen hasn’t showed you yet? You get to wear it at the ball.”

“Interesting.” A tiara made the princess stuff seem a whole lot more real.

“You’re such a girl.”

“As compared to what?”

“Nothing. I’ve just never seen your girly side. You’re all teeth and nails usually.” He held up his hands like claws.

“Wasn’t I the one you called weak a few months ago?”

“Weak and girly are two different things. Aren’t you going to turn it on?” He gestured to my laptop.

“I tried.”

He laughed. “You can’t figure out how to turn on your computer?”

“Don’t laugh. Fix it.”

“Didn’t you try it out?” He pressed a button I could have sworn I’d already tried. Of course, the thing booted instantly.

“No. Levi said he loaded everything for me.”

Jared shook his head. “At least you trust him again.”

“Shouldn’t I trust him?”

“Of course. I’m just saying, it took a while.”

“As it should have. He didn’t deserve easy forgiveness.”

The blonde glared at me, clearly getting the wrong impression about us. I just smiled back at her.

“I bet you’re still getting him to make it up to you.”

“Dare I ask what you’re implying?”

“You know exactly what I’m implying. I know about your challenges.”

“What!” I said it louder than I meant to.

“What’s the problem?” He grinned from ear to ear.

“Levi told you that?” I could barely breathe, I was so mortified.

“Yeah, so?”

“He’s dead. He’s absolutely one hundred percent dead.” I gritted my teeth. If Levi had been within arm’s reach, he’d have had a red mark on his face in the shape of my hand.

“Come on, Levi tells me everything. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? I hate you both.” I picked up my laptop and tote bag and moved over a few seats.

Of course, Jared followed and he was laughing. “Do you think I care? I’m just glad you’re finally giving Levi some. He was such an ass when you were holding out on him.”

I turned around. Some nerdy looking guy behind us was watching us with interest. I faced forward again. “Shut up. Not another word.”

Thankfully, the professor came in. I’d never been more interested in aromatic hydrocarbons before.

Class went by at a snail’s pace, but it gave me time to calm down. Or so I thought.

“Are you still mad?” Jared asked as he followed me out of the room.

“What do you think?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“No, but your buddy did.” I still couldn’t believe Levi would humiliate me like that. What else was he telling his friends?

“My buddy? You’re his mate.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Jared laughed again. “Please don’t make a huge deal out of this. Who cares that you like sex with him transformed and your favorite position is—”

I pushed him. “Don’t say another word to me. Not one word.”

I pulled out my phone and texted Levi. You are in so much trouble. I put my phone away. Thankfully, my second class was on the same quad. I reached the building and turned to glare at Jared. “You can leave. I’m sure Owen’s waiting inside.”

“No can do. I need visual confirmation.”

I put a hand on my hip. “Visual confirmation?”

“Chill out, I’ll call him.” He pulled his phone from his pocket.

As expected, Owen walked outside. “Hey, couldn’t find the room?”

“Ha ha. So funny. Your friend here said he needed visual confirmation of my next babysitter.”

Jared shook his head. “Be careful, Owen, she’s a live one today.”

“It’s your fault.” I brushed past both of them and into the building.

I found a seat and set up my laptop. I had no trouble getting it out of sleep mode, thank goodness.

“What’s up with you?” Owen tossed his backpack on the floor and took a seat in the desk next to mine. I was actually really excited for our Southern History class to start. You don’t learn much about that subject when you grow up in New York.