The walk back to the dorms was quiet and uneventful. Lights had long been turned off, leaving me to navigate by the feeble rays of moonlight and a half-baked memory of the land.
Once I got within sight of the building, I hurried to the brick wall and followed it to the dorms. My back hugged the wall, but I would not be caught by something as stupid as a video camera.
My room felt cold, and I closed the window fully to preserve the remaining heat. It was the first time I had left the grate slightly open, and it didn't surprise me that I had forgotten with Nick distracting me.
As I turned to switch on the lamp, a cold voice spoke from the shadows, sending chills up my back.
"Hello, Alexis."
I reached for the knife taped behind the mantle, fingers trembling like traitors, before turning on the light.
A tall woman sat in a chair in the far corner‑ Kiri. Her arms were crossed over her chest, long nails gleaming like an unspoken threat, and her pink painted lips pulled down in a scowl. She watched me with dark eyes rimmed with thin strands of black liquid. She'd been crying.
"I saw you at the club, and I knew you saw me by the way you ran out like a beaten dog." Kiri's tone was assertive. "Who was the girl? For that matter, who's the boy?"
"How did you find me?"
"Checked your uncle's GPS and found the town. Figured the club was my best bet for asking around and getting cash. You didn't answer my question."
"Nick, a werewolf I'm helping." I could hear the wheeze in my voice. "The girl is Anya, a part of his pack who agreed to help me. It's business."
"It's always business," Kiri scoffed.
I couldn't help the color that rushed to my cheeks. Kiri was a siren, and as much as I wanted to hide behind my hands, she knew me too well.
"I'm sorry." I didn't know exactly what to say in a situation like this, but an apology was usually a good place to start. "I didn't think you'd want to see me. You weren't supposed to be here." My voice wavered, and any training I had melted away to reveal a regular teenaged girl confronted by her ex.
"I wasn't? You disappeared and didn't expect me to look for you?" Kiri shrieked, her voice pitchy before she took a deep breath and started again. "I looked everywhere for you, and the only thing your family said is you had work."
"I didn't mean it that way. "I thought... What did I think?
"I was always accepting that you couldn't tell me everything because of your family's stupid job, that I would share your time, but for the love of god you couldn't have said you were leaving?" The remnants of her watery home leaked in through the shrillness of her tone. "I got a letter saying you were leaving me."
"I didn't know what to say."
"Anything would have better than that. You just left. You left me alone."
"I thought you would be alright while I was gone. Uncle assured me you were safer and happier than you would have been with me. It wasn't a pleasant experience."
That brought a series of long, humorless laughs from Kiri that dug into me over and over.
"You thought I would be safer with my family?"
I hadn't thought about her family. They lived and preyed along the cliffs a few kilometers from my family's land. It was a dangerous, gloomy area where fog hung over the water like an ominous prophecy of the creatures that lurked underneath.
"I thought maybe you'd stay at school, make new friends who could be there for you. I just didn't want you to follow me into the human world. It would be dangerous, and you wouldn't be able to blend in as well as me." Even I could hear the guilt in my voice. "I thought you'd be safer."
"Well, I'm in the human world now anyway. After you left, I cut ties for good."
"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I thought you were happy. I don't know what you want me to say."
I should have been there for her. She had been thinking about leaving her family for good, but loyalty kept her there. If she cut ties, I should have been there to help ease the transition, help her move, and tell her everything would be alright.
"I don't either. Maybe an explanation, a reason why you left me so suddenly." Kiri shrugged, her hands fisted in the fabric of her skirt. "Can I have it now?"
She phrased it like an explanation was something easily given, tangible and real. Any expiation I could give her would be entwined with lies and emotion, nothing so unbiased.
"Are you sure?" I felt the haze in the back of my throat lessen.
"I've waited long enough to know what was going on." Kiri's eyes were fiery despite their cool color. "I want to know, though it doesn't mean I'll understand."
I rolled on the balls of my feet, looking to the door and window. There was no reason for Nick to return, and as long as I turned off the light, there was no reason someone outside would suspect anything. That's if Kiri's shouts hadn't alerted them already.
I flipped the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness. Then I crossed my legs on the bed and leaned against the wall. Kiri stood and settled on the desk, her legs wedged against the hardwood surface. Her eyes roamed the room before settling on me.
"You gave up the mansion for this?" Her lips pulled up as she glimpsed the trash I had shoved under the bed.
"Well, why did you leave?" I couldn't help feeling defensive of my meager living quarters. "You were happy studying there, yeah?"
"Not really. I'm not meant for confinement or rules. The manor lost its appeal." Her pointed look told me enough. It wasn't the school that disappointed her.
"You want to know why I left? Uncle Finn heard about a witch who was having problems at her school, and he sent me in to smooth things over. Then I got involved in a minor demon possession down south. That took a long time. Then I was sent here to help Nick reunite with his pack."
"That's not what I meant," Kiri interrupted. "Why did you leave?"
My jaw tightened. I told Kiri almost everything, but there were some things that were harder to admit than others. Some truths that made me look weak, pitiful. I could live with the others, but I couldn't stand pity from her.
"I couldn't stay there any longer. Not with all the sad looks and side comments challenging my right to head the Morill family. Leading and helping is what I was born to do and no more training would prepare me for the job." I finally made eye contact with her, feeling the sting behind my eyes. "I didn't want to uproot you. I thought you were happy, so I told them to keep my whereabouts a secret. I thought I was doing you a favor."
"A favor?" Kiri laughed, although it sounded more like a cackle. "You know how much I stood out. I would have gone with you willingly. I could have helped."
"Maybe I was scared," I admitted, my voice a whisper. "Maybe I wanted to prove that I could do it without another Coth." I couldn't. After all that, I still needed help when things went badly.
Kiri's look softened. She knew the struggle of not fitting in. We had spent enough time curled up in secret rooms talking about it. She was the only one who knew what it felt like, knew me almost of well as I knew myself.
"You could have just told me. I would have waited."
I shook my head. "That wouldn't be fair to you."
"It wouldn't be fair? So, it was fairer to leave me with no friends in a place I don't fit in and just disappear without so much as a goodbye?"
"I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to do. "Please, believe me."
She studied me before turning to the window, fixing her gaze on the treetops. I saw the emotions flying through her eyes, too fast for me to pick anything out.
"Then where does that leave us now?" Kiri said. "I don't forgive you. What you did hurt, a lot. However, that doesn't mean I want to cut ties completely. I still love you, and I know you love me too, but we're not on the same wavelength anymore."
"Really? You want to make it work?" My heart warmed, the little bird of hope fluttering against my collarbone.
"I don't have a lot of people who understand how I feel. I'd be foolish to let you go."
"Then..." I hesitated. "Can we start over? I'll include you in this mission if you'd like, keep you up to date."
Kiri nodded, her hands winding together. "I think that would be best. I'll be in town. Come find me if you need anything. Until you're done with his mission, think about what happened. I don't want to be your second priority."
"I won't put you second again," I promised, and for the first time in my life, I wanted a promise to be true more than anything.
"I also want you to watch your uncle. I know how much you love him, but he gives me bad vibes. I know he doesn't like me, so don't mention I'm here if you talk."
"I'm sure he's fond of you in his own way," I lied. "
"Maybe." Kiri didn't look convinced.
There were footsteps in the hall, two pairs based on the tread. "You should go. We're not allowed to have visitors in the dorm."
"Stupid humans." Kiri grunted, but her words were laced with sarcasm. She climbed out of the window, holding the ledge with her talons. "Lexi, be honest with me, alright? Then I might forgive you."
"I will," I whispered. "Stay safe on the way out. Would you like me to send you off?"
"No, I can manage better without you." Kiri climbed down, hovering on a rung a few feet from the ground.
Someone pounded on the door, three long bangs that sent the thin barrier shivering. "Alexandra Smith, please open the door."
"Smith?" Kiri mouthed the word as her feet landed firmly on the grass. I knew she had no fear of capture. She was a Siren; a few choice words and the unlucky listener would never breathe again. I, however, couldn't be caught yet.
I waved at her, telling her to go as the door shuddered again.
Ditching the jacket, I scrambled into a pair of pajama bottoms, I pulled out my hairpin and tousled my hair, then I threw back the covers before opening the door with half-closed lids.
The principal stood in the doorway, her glasses gleaming in the hall light. Cassey stood behind her, nose upturned, wearing a smug smile. They took up the entire door frame, effectively boxing me in.
"Miss Lawrence here reported voices and says you had a visitor in your room?" Principle Harris stared down her long, pointed nose. "Do you mind if I inspect your room?"
"Can I go back to bed at least?" I forced a yawn, stretching my arms above my head. "I have a long day of fulfilling classwork tomorrow."
The principal raised an eyebrow at me, probably wondering whether I was mocking her. She pushed past me, looking under the bed and in the closet.
"Is there a reason you have your window open so late at night?"
"I like the breeze." I shrugged. "It drones out the quiet."
"Can you explain this recording then?" She held out Cassey's phone, the bedazzles case a trademark.
A faint murmur echoed through the phone of people talking through walls, but I couldn't make anything out. Thankfully, the building was old and the walls were thick.
"I don't know what that is. How does this relate to me?"
"Miss Andrews claims to have recorded this a few hours ago and rushed to find me." The principal gnashed her teeth, and I couldn't tell if she was angrier at the prospect of a student stealing in visitors or a student waking her up to tattle tale.
"The timestamp says that was taken an hour and a half ago," I deadpanned. "I was asleep. Besides, that could be anyone listening to music or face-timing a parent."
Mrs. Harris's eyes looked ready to bulge out of her head, but she set her jaw and turned. "Come on, Miss Andrews. I'll be keeping an eye on you Miss Smith, and I highly suggest you keep that window closed from now on or you will be getting detention."
She closed the door behind her, leaving me with a racing heart. I heard Cassey's whining voice as she was escorted back to her room. That was a problem I would have to deal with later. I had underestimated Cassey's spite. I couldn't wait for Nick to shift. I needed to get out of this school.