Page 75 of Underworld
“I’m going to learn Shaman voodoo and stick a needle up his ass,” Yuri vowed as she pulled a blanket over her upper body. She’s shifted over the side of the mattress as her upper body hung toward the floor. “Or I’ll just kill him. I haven’t decided yet.”
Olivia snorted. “Uh-huh.”
“Okay, well. I’ll kill himifI can catch the old bastard. He’sfast.” She dropped the blanket over her face. “Just you wait,” she mumbled from underneath the fabric.
Olivia and I exchanged a look and snickered.
“What about you?” Olivia asked. “How was—”
A faint but unmistakable sound came from under Yuri’s blanket.
“Is she… snoring?” I asked.
“Sounds like it.” Olivia closed her grimoire. “She’s now sound asleep—upside down. She’s a walking, talking cliché.” She shook her head and then stood. “Hey, since you’re not sleeping, are you hungry?”
“Starving. Do you think we can still get room service?” The Demonspawn attacks had been pretty intense. I didn’t want to strain the Academy’s reserves.
“Maybe not, but I have something else we can eat. Wait right here.”
She disappeared into the small kitchenette each of the tower suites boasted and popped out seconds later. “How about this?”
She put the bounty down on the bed and beamed at me.
“That’s…” I grabbed one of the two bright orange bags, gasping in delight. “Cheetos! How did you getCheetoshere?”
“Not only that… but soda.” She put a canned soft drink in front of me and flopped down next to me, her own junk food clutched to her chest.
“How?” I tore the bag open and grabbed a couple of the orange twists, then shoved them into my mouth, groaning with delight.
“Well, there are some benefits to all of this realm merging stuff. It’s easy to get to Earth now and nab some goodies. Let’s hear it for too much sugar and artificial ingredients.”
Mouth full, I tipped my can at her in agreement.
A few minutes later, I made myself slow down and gave a happy sigh as I selected a fat, cheesy twist from the bag. “This makes this shitty day a little better.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I glanced toward Yuri, then at my best friend. “Yeah.”
The bags of Cheetos lay empty and two more snacks from Olivia’s hoard of Earth junk food had also been devoured—Twinkies, along with two more soft drinks. Now, amped up on sugar and having vented about the craptastic day, I looked at Olivia.
“The whole daysucked.”
“Sounds like it.” She nudged her knee against mine. “What are you going to do? Cole isn’t giving up.” With a heavy sigh, she looked toward the window. “And if he gets any worse, I’m almost afraid to see what happens.”
So was I, but after my talk with my mother, I felt a little better about it.
I was ready to give him up, if I had to.
What was harder was to accept that I could be ready to forgive him, too, if he passed my test.
“He’s still my Virtue,” I said. “That means we need him.Ineed him.” Forcing a smile, I said, “And hey, it’s not like my other mates weren’t dicks at first, either. Dante kidnapped me. Kaito has manipulated me. Orion tried to kill me through orgasmic chocolates. Hendrik used you to make me his pet. Even Logan played the asshole, although he did thatforme—I know that now, but it still hurt at the time.”
“Yeah, okay. I see where you’re going with this… okay, no.” She poked me in the side. “Why did you forgive these guys again? Why haveI? I should turn them all into toads just on the friend principle alone. And Hendrik? Well, just on the Hendrik principle alone. Really, Lils… the only one I can honestly understand is Logan.”
“Logan.” I heaved out a sigh. “He’s a conundrum, isn’t he?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
