Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter Sixty-Five

"Broke up," he interrupted. "We are broken up, as in already happened."

"I'm not stupid! My mom told me what her mother did before bailing on her marriage to Devland. She's a bitch, but that's okay, because at least she's a dead bitch and can't interfere anymore."

I covered the intake of air that I couldn't suppress with my hands and fought hard to fight back the wave of fresh tears that threatened to take over. Sure, Duvessa had spouted off at the mouth before, and that had hurt. This was different. Now that she'd learned of who my mom was, what she could do... Well, it just hurt. A lot. This time, Duvessa wasn't saying it because she wanted to get under my skin; she meant it.

"Our mothers were close friends! If you ever say that about her mom again, you will wish that you had never met me. I mean it."

"Whatever, Calin."

"He's pissed," Maible whispered, smiling while enjoying the show I wished I could see. She pointed to the side of her jaw and laughed. "It's ticking, right there. Like he's working really hard to bite his tongue."

"You need to stop whatever you are doing to get her in trouble, Duvessa. You think that it's okay, but it's not, and people know it isn't her. How long do you think they'll keep quiet? Stop, not just for her sake, but for your own."

"I don't know what you mean," she said innocently.

"Either you are pulling these stupid pranks, or you have somebody doing it for you, and if you don't stop, I will prove it," he warned in a hard voice. "I promised my mother I would watch out for her, and that means more to me than you ever could."

"Are you gay?"

"Excuse me?" he sputtered in disbelief. "Am I what?"

I tried laughing, but the effort was too much. Maible slapped her hand over her mouth to keep her own laughter from giving her away. This boy was much too much of a guy's, and I was pretty sure that it wasn't an act. What surprised me, though, was that he seemed to be honorable, as well. Before he'd come back, I'd thought him a no good, wish-I'd-never-laid-eyes-on-him pig for leaving me here. Now, I had to admit I was wrong.

"You never wanted to do anything with me," Duvessa whined. "We never fooled around or did anything other than hold hands or kiss."

"She actually stomped her foot!" Maible clapped happily, smiling back at me and pointing out the door.

At least one of us was having fun, I thought glumly as the room spun. I was still trying to figure out which one of her said that. Was she jumping or was that just me?

"And that didn't tell you anything?" he asked, his voice full of humor.

"Can you get me a glass of water, please?" I groaned, pulling the medication out of my pocket. I'd planned on getting to the bed first, and then if I needed to take more, I'd have simply done what I'd done before—bring the water to me. Now that Maible was here, I didn't want her to see me using my abilities like that. I couldn't just say, "Hey, by the way..." and expect everything to be fine. Even if she wouldn't remember, I would still have to explain, and I was too tired. It was like something was trying to yank me into the Underworld by my eyelids, and I fought to keep them open.

"Yeah, of course." She forced a smile, looking at the door before hurrying away.

"Thank you." I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling swaying above me. My stomach rolled, once again fighting the urge to throw up.

"Just because I never wanted to sleep with you doesn't mean that I'm gay," I heard Calin reply. "That merely means that I have some taste."

My heart chose that moment to betray me and flipped—not so good for my stomach and troublesome for my head. At least my unwanted attraction to him could take solace in the fact that he and Duvessa had never had a meaningful relationship together over the years.