21. Salem
Chapter twenty-one
A knock at my door has me raising my eyebrows, but I know it can only be one of probably three people. However, two of those people don’t believe in knocking. When I open the door, Ember stands holding pizza boxes in her arms. “I don’t remember ordering pizza.” I smile at her as she rolls her eyes.
“You can thank me later, after your stomach is full. Plus, there is a bonus of you getting to avoid the cafeteria...” She gives a slight shudder. “…considering it looks like your posters aren’t coming down soon. I figured this was safer.”
A groan escapes my lips. Lulu is such a pain in my ass. She always was, and I don’t understand how she gets by with the things she does. Marcus owns Dean Campbell, but how did Lulu also get that grace? “How they allow her to keep those up is amazing to me. Do you think she is doing sexual favors for the Dean?”
Her eyes widen before a smile takes over her face. “It wouldn’t surprise me! She has a rotation, you know.”
She opens the pizza boxes, and the smell of cheese and garlic fills the air. Ember takes a big bite, and my mouth slightly waters. How long has it been since I have had pizza? “What do you mean by rotation?”
She continues to chew and pauses her eating. “It’s weird, but she has probably six different guys that all seem okay with sharing her. It’s not a relationship because I’ve seen them with other girls, but maybe she just likes a different cock every day of the week? Like changing underwear. Free love and all of that.”
I shrug. “Good for her, I guess? They have no taste, but yeah, good for her.”
“I think it’s more about daddy issues than anything. Let’s face it, Marcus isn’t exactly winning any Daddy Of The Year award.” Her eyebrows waggle. “Speaking of daddy–”
I throw the crust of my pizza at her. “Do not finish that thought! Constantine is off limits for any sexual speak.” I glare at her. “I finally started calling him dad and can’t go there.”
“Boo! Fine, for the sake of our friendship, Daddy Constantine is off limits.” She tilts her head and pauses. “I hear you have some hot uncles. Maybe they would be into a hybrid.” She waggles her eyebrows.
That makes me laugh as I think of the Seven Deadly Sins. They are more of a made family. The demon fae have so many branches, and the strongest created a bond. They didn’t want any group to have the most power, so they created a magical bond between them all that binds them for life. It’s something that is closer than DNA-related. None of them are DNA-related, to my knowledge. “Considering I have yet to meet any of them, you are welcome to them.” I pull out my necklace to show her. “I get to wear their symbol, though.”
She reaches forward, sitting on her knees on the couch, and takes the pendant between her fingers. “That’s so badass. You should flash it around. Flaunt it a bit. You don’t even want to show off the Blackthorne name. I would own that shit.”
I level her with a look. “Seriously, I already have a huge target on my back, and I don’t need another one.” People were already gunning for me. I can’t imagine what it will be like when they realize my father legitimized me. He even surprised me by making me his heir. Part of me wonders if it will ever change if he finds a mate one day. I only want to be in his life. I don’t really care about the perks that come with that title.
Ember smirks at me as she grabs a piece of pizza. “You already have another target on you from Gage. That guy seems like he wants a slice of Salem.” Ember seductively licks her slice of pizza.
I snort and roll my eyes at her before leaning back and falling on the loveseat cushion. “Don’t remind me. He is hot.” I think about Gage, and it does something to me. Is it because he is the first guy I am physically attracted to? With 203, it’s an emotional connection because I’ve never seen him before. “All my awakened parts want him, yet I am the one who stands in the way of it.”
“Okay, stop calling your parts awakened. It makes it sound like you have multiple vaginas that are attached to areas of your body.” She shrugs. “Assuming they are vaginas, no body shame here.” She holds up her hands in surrender before grabbing another piece of pizza. “Stop vagina blocking yourself.”
“Seriously? No extra parts have grown onto my body.” I am biting my lip with nervousness. There are parts of my brain that have yet to awaken. Maybe they won’t now that my shadows and beast have. However, my beast seems to pace a lot more lately. She is antsy and always at the edge of my mind lately.
“I feel like it would be a weirdly cool superpower—the power of the vagina. You would have a huge cult following trying to get a piece of that action. Think it could have multiple babies?”
A shiver comes over my body. “This conversation is over. Get it through your cheese-filled head. There is only one, and that one needs to keep her pants on.”
“Boo! Fine! I am only speaking hypothetically at this point, anyway. Seriously though, air her out.” I level her with a look, and she huffs before rolling her eyes. “Back to Lulu. What do you plan on doing with her?”
“Look, I am on my second strike, and school hasn’t been in session for a week yet. I have to be smart and sneaky.” I don’t have it in me to tell her I haven’t thought that far into it. I’ve never had to play games before when it comes to drama. Lulu is skilled.
She waggles her finger at me. “You should fuck Gage. That will piss her off. She has been after that one since spotting him.”
My beast growls inside of my head, not liking that one bit. Ember raises her hands, and her eyes widen slightly. “Don’t shoot the messenger.” She smiles mischievously before pointing at me. “Knew it! You want him all up in your lady lumps!” Her voice gets sing-song in tone. “Slipping inside your DMs.”
My brows furrow. People need to stop speaking in riddles around me. “What the fuck does that mean?”
She scoffs before frowning. “Forgot you’re electronically challenged, like my grandmother. Give me your phone, Granny Salem.”
I hand her the phone, and she unlocks it. “First, passcode! If Lulu gets a hold of this thing, you are doomed.” She moves fast between screens before holding it up to my face at different angles. “They have face unlocking technology. This phone is sweet, by the way. It has anti-fae face-swapping technology for any spells that make them look like you.” She clicks a few more times and hands me the phone back with the screen still open.
“What is this?” I ask, referring to the profile, which includes many pictures of Gage looking sweaty and shirtless.
“Faegram. You just dropped into Gage’s DM’s, by the way.”
My jaw clinches, and I glare at her. “You keep using these words, and I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. I dropped into what?” The phone vibrates, and I read it.
Is this for real?
“Is what for real?” I thrust the phone back to her.
Ember cackles before clapping. “It’s like he knows you wouldn’t say ‘naked wrestling?’”
“I am going to kill you.” I pull the phone out of her hands. My fingers awkwardly hover over the tiny keyboard. “Why the hell does anyone think this is fun?”
Me: My ex-best friend created this. Please ignore the naked wrestling.
Gage: I feel like you might fight dirty and grab hold of my dangling bits. Not that I am opposed to you grabbing them in a sexy way.
Me: Seriously, fuck off.
Gage: HA! Now I know for sure it’s you.
I flip my phone over on the couch, refuse to look at it, and cross my arms. Every part of me practically twitches to grab the phone. When my eyes look up, Ember gives me a smug look. “Gage and Ember, sitting in a tree. F-U-C-”
“Not another word.” My shadows wrap around her mouth, and she gives me a look. I hold my hands up, shooting her my most innocent look. “I can’t control them.”