Mark of the Vasirian by Denne Stephanie

Author:Denne, Stephanie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amethyst Corvid Press
Published: 2023-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

20

CALEB

Lukas decided not to confront Aiden about things yet. He wasn’t in the mood for any more conflict after everything that happened with Blaire. With Riley raking him over the coals, he was glad to get off campus, and Blaire’s excitement about seeing her friend again eased his heart. They walked into town together. Riley chattering away between Blaire and Aiden, while Mera and Kai walked behind them holding hands. Lukas trailed them as he tried to sort his thoughts.

Riley rubbed her flat stomach. “I’m staaaarving. I’m going to throw down on some cheese fries and a milkshake.”

Lukas wondered where she put all the food she consumed.

“Oh yeah,” Riley said as they entered the diner. “There’s this new store that opened up in the Valley Center Plaza this week I wanna check out. I want you to go with me.”

“Sure, I—” Blaire started.

“Blaire!” A small red-headed girl ran and collided with Blaire, taking her into a tight hug and looking up at her. “Why haven’t you called me? I’ve been so worried!” Her voice broke at the end.

“Whoa, dude…” Riley laughed in surprise.

Blaire smiled down at her friend and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so busy. I don’t have a phone still, and I haven’t had the opportunity to call from the office. Things have been kind of chaotic.”

Lukas could feel the guilt bubble inside her as she made excuses. He couldn’t blame her for not reaching out. What would she tell the girl? She couldn’t exactly tell her what they were. It wouldn’t be easy to explain how chaotic her life had become; he had a hard time explaining it to himself, and he was part of it.

“Charlotte, this is Riley, Mera, Kai, Aiden, and…” Blaire glanced at Lukas, their eyes meeting before she bit her lower lip. Lukas’s eyes tracked the movement. She released her lip and snapped her gaze back to Charlotte. “Lukas,” she said quickly.

“Hi! I looove your earrings.” Riley reached out and flicked the bat earrings dangling from Charlotte’s ears.

Charlotte smiled. “Thanks.” She tucked a red curl that had fallen from her pinned-up hair behind her ear. “I can show you to your table, but I assume it’ll be the usual one?”

“Usual one?” Blaire asked.

“Yeah, we come all the time and sit in the big booth in the corner,” Riley said.

Wouldn’t Blaire have seen them before? Lukas didn’t remember her working when they came to the diner in the past except that one day, which he found strange, since Professor Velastra told him Blaire worked as much as she could to save money to leave the Valley.

Charlotte said, “They’re usually here on the later shifts when you’re not working, oddly enough.”

“Yeah… I’ve seen Blackthorn students before during the day, but unless Ricky needed me for a double, I always made sure to be home not long after school.” Blaire glanced at Riley.

“Well, isn’t that interesting?” Kai leered at Lukas. “So many opportunities to meet, and it never worked out until the right moment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.