Chapter Two
Naomi glanced at the clock on her desk and let out a long, weary sigh.
She would have company soon.
Billy Tolver was one of her friends from the group home.
Back when they were living there, she’d been convinced there was something special between them.
The lingering glances, the easy laughter, the way he always seemed to seek her out had made her feel special.
It had all felt like the beginning of something.
She’d secretly imagined that one day their friendship might blossom into something more.
It was amazing how convincing people could be when they wanted something.
After living through the same stretch of time over and over again, Naomi finally understood. The smiles, the compliments, the concern in his voice. None of it was genuine. They were carefully crafted tools, used whenever he needed a favor.
Today would be no different.
Having completely forgotten that she was supposed to be attending her first day of testing at Trifecta University, Billy would stop by to ask if she could loan him some money to buy a new suit.
The wolf shifter would tell her he had finally landed an important job interview and needed to make a good impression.
The story had been believable enough the first time she heard it.
It was also a complete lie.
After a few cycles, something he said made her suspicious enough to follow him after handing over the money.
Instead of heading to an interview, he’d spent the money on a date with a girl from a wealthy family he’d been relentlessly pursuing.
Billy had always been looking for someone who could give him the comfortable life he believed he deserved, so it wasn’t really that surprising.
The worst part wasn’t even that he’d lied.
It was how effortlessly he looked her in the eyes while doing it.
Naomi had finally come to a painful realization that extended far beyond her connection with Billy. None of the people she’d once considered her closest friends from the group home had actually been her friends at all.
They had merely been allies in the same game of survival.
There was Erin, the seemingly sweet girl who liked to borrow her clothes and somehow always forgot to return them.
She was also an expert at using tears to get people to do what she wanted.
Or Annalise, who was critical under the guise of trying to be helpful.
She had been the first to show her true colors, and had stopped talking to Naomi after she declared she didn’t want a roommate when she moved out.
Then, there was Marcus, who constantly begged her to order pizzas from the restaurant she worked at because of her employee discount.
Every single time, he’d swear he’d pay her back later, but later never came.
And finally, there was Axel, the mysterious supernatural who had suddenly started hanging out with them after he arrived at the group home.
As soon as he had aged out of the system, he had disappeared without a word of goodbye.
Growing up in the foster care system meant they were all focused on survival more than loyalty.
Unconditional love didn’t exist in their world.
Trust was something earned, but it wasn’t always equal.
Everyone learned to cling to whatever scraps of security they could find, and sometimes that meant taking advantage of the people around them.
Maybe that explained why so many of them became selfish adults.
It didn’t excuse their behavior.
It was simply the way it was.
Each rebirth peeled away another comforting illusion, exposing the people in her life.
Every betrayal and lie was a painful lesson.
It wasn’t just a matter of her becoming more cynical.
The more she learned, the more she realized just how na?ve she’d been.
There was a time she had wondered if stripping her friends away one at a time was another form of punishment.
Eventually, she accepted a far more unsettling truth.
The loop hadn’t changed people.
It had simply given her enough time to see through them.
It had also allowed her to grow up and mature.
Glancing at the clock again, she got up and went to the kitchen to rinse out the empty yogurt container and top off her coffee. She pulled out the small, collapsible dining table she used whenever she had guests, then went to the door and opened it a few seconds before Billy knocked.
Surprised, he jerked his hand back before he hit her in the face and smiled. “Hey, Naomi! Good timing. This storm is crazy. It’s really coming down out there.”
He leaned forward to give her a hug as he always did, but she didn’t have the time or patience for any of his bullshit.
Without saying a word, she turned around and walked over to take a seat on one of the chairs she’d set out by the table.
Billy headed straight for her fridge, where he grabbed a bottle of soda without asking.
He’d obviously gotten caught in the rain since his clothes were wet. The wolf shifter was handsome enough to use his looks as a weapon, but there was no way to hide the cunning gleam in his eyes now that she knew what to look for.
Billy cracked open the bottle and drained half of it before he took a seat. “Got caught in the rain on the way over. Man, this storm came out of nowhere. Aren’t you going to offer me a towel or a dry shirt?”
“No need,” she said blandly. “You won’t be staying that long.”
“I—what?” His brows furrowed in irritation, then his expression changed to a replica of concern. “Are you on your period or something?”
That made her want to laugh. Or slap him. Maybe both. It was his not-so-subtle way of telling her to check her attitude, but it no longer worked on her.
“Before you ask, no, I’m not giving you money for your date tonight.”
His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in shock. She could almost see his mind racing as he tried to recalculate what he was going to say.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He blinked innocently. “Are you mad I didn’t tell you I was dating someone? I just met her recently, and wanted to make sure she was worthy before I told you about her. I swear I—”
“I don’t care who you date. What I care about is the fact you were expecting me to pay for it.”
Deciding to laugh it off like it was a big joke, he said, “I’m just a little short until payday. What’s wrong with asking a friend for a little help?”
“If we’re such good friends, why are you here when you know I was supposed to start testing at the magical academy today?
” Her voice was cold as ice. “You were going to lie and say you needed money to buy a suit for an interview. If I wasn’t around, you were going to sneak in here to grab some money from my tip jar. ”
“Wh-what?” he sputtered. “I would never do that!”
She damn well knew he would because she had witnessed that very thing happen with her own two eyes.
The jar she kept hidden in her closet was filled with the tip money she proudly made at the pizza parlor.
She had been shocked and deeply hurt the first time she had watched Billy use a key to sneak into her apartment.
Hell, she hadn’t even known he had taken her spare key.
After making sure he was alone in the apartment, he had made his way straight to her closet as if he had done so many times before.
He had taken just enough money from the jar that she wouldn’t notice.
And there hadn’t been an ounce of guilt or regret on his face when he had stolen her hard-earned money.
“If you want to wine and dine rich girls, do so on your own time and at your own expense.”
Anger and embarrassment made his cheeks flush bright red. He surged to his feet and practically lunged across the table as he reached for her. “I don’t know what your fucking problem is—”
She didn’t even have to open her mouth or lift a hand to bitch slap him with a powerful blast of magic.
She tempered it so it was just enough to slam him back in his seat without knocking him and the chair over.
It was an advanced wind manipulation spell that shouldn’t have been possible for a witch like her to achieve with just a thought.
At least, it would be impossible for who she used to be.
But now, she was so much more.
His eyes went wide with shock. “How the hell did you do that?”
Ignoring his question, she said, “That was your one and only warning. Don’t come at me without expecting to get slapped back a thousand times harder.
The only reason I answered the door today is I want to make a few things very clear to you.
I am not your ATM, nor am I running a free grocery store here.
” She tapped the table with a fingertip. “Now, give me back my spare key.”
“I don’t have—” He let out a loud gasp as he stumbled away from the table. “Holy fuck, Naomi. Your eyes are flickering like green fire,” he whispered, his voice full of fear. “Why are they doing that?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “They started doing that after I died the thirty-fifth time. Or was it the thirty-sixth? I wasn’t very good at keeping track back then.”
She’d always been careful about who she told about her unique situation, but this cycle, she decided to forgo that caution. It was a waste of time trying to find plausible explanations. Besides, she had told him the whole truth during one of the earlier cycles, and he hadn’t believed her.
“Wh-what?”
She shook her head. “Never mind that. It’s a long story I don’t want to get into right now. I don’t know why my eyes glow sometimes. They just do.”
Especially when she was angry or feeling some other strong emotion.