Page 18 of Forgotten Sacrifice
That weird clawing feeling is back, but it’s happening in a different area of my body—one Irefuseto acknowledge. He releases his hold and silently returns to the stove.
“Asshole,” I mutter under my breath.
Shaking off whatever weirdness that was, I retrieve my phone from my pocket.Uh-oh.I have a ton of missed messages. Everyone’s freaking about my disappearance from Kevin’s party and my sudden departure from school.
“You can tell your friends you left school because you’re focusing on chess. Reveal anything else, and you’ll lose phone privileges for good,” Vince announces like he has eyes in the back of his head. Impressive, considering the man only has one eye to begin with.
I scowl at his muscular back, my thumbs flying over my phone.
Hey, everyone. Thanks for the concern, but I’m good. I left school to focus on chess.
I read the message out loud. “Does Warden Vince approve?”
His shoulders shake with laughter. “Approved.”
I hit send, slamming my phone down on the table.
Vince ignores my attitude, busying himself with opening a waffle maker and transferring the steaming waffle onto a plate. It’s obvious the man knows his way around the kitchen. While I taught myself basically everything growing up, cooking wasn’t on my list. I avoided being home whenever possible; not that we ever had food to cook.
He serves me a waffle with an angry emoji face: bananas and blueberries for eyes, and an angry mouth and slanted eyebrows made out of slivers of bacon. I would laugh if I didn’t hate him so damn much. “I was going to make you birthday waffles, but this seems more fitting.”
I grab the butter knife and stab the waffle in the center of its forehead. “It does.”
Vince howls with laughter as he fetches the butter and maple syrup, placing them before me. “Your tutor will be here at eight,” he announces as he pours himself a cup of coffee. “I have some business to take care of this morning, but I’ll be back. This afternoon, we’ll meet with potential chess coaches.”
I narrow my eyes. “So in other words, my life will be excruciatinglyblandfrom hereon out.”
Vince lifts his shoulders. “Glass half full or half empty depends entirely on you.”
“Love the dime-store philosophy.” I violently stab one of the banana and blueberry eyeballs with my fork before bringing it to my mouth.
Vince appears amused as he takes a seat across from me, opening the newspaper.
“You can go handle whatever criminal activity that’s on your schedule; I don’t need a babysitter,” I inform him.
He takes a sip of his coffee. “Maybe I enjoy basking in your sunshine.”
I bare my teeth at him, and he chuckles.
My phone buzzes, and I read the group text.
Let’s go out to celebrate your birthday!
“Hey, my friends are asking?—”
“No.”
In a rage, I chuck my phone at his head.
Vince ducks, and it sails across the kitchen, sliding across the floor. “You break your phone, I’m not buying you a new one,” he says matter-of-factly, returning his attention to the sports section.
Vince
Having Luna around is akin to keeping a feral kitten. Appears innocent enough, until the little thing is shredding your flesh into ribbons with its razor-sharp claws. And from the look she’s giving me, she plans on wearing my flayed skin like a party dress.
“I’m not the bad guy here, Luna,” I chide.
“Anyone who has to say he’s not the bad guy isdefinitelythe bad guy.” She pushes away from the table, stomping across the kitchen to retrieve her phone. Returning to thetable, she aggressively attacks the waffle, the wheels in her whip-smart mind turning.
