Emma practically danced on the spot. “But something huge this time. Bigger than Halloween.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, grinning at her. “We can definitely do that.”
“They seemed just as freaked out on Halloween,” I said, slamming my locker. “Ever think there’s more to this?”
“Did you hit your head?” Chloe said coldly. “They messed with us. Now it’s our turn.”
“Maybe they didn’t.”
She glared at me. “We were all there. Just because you have the hots for a foreigner doesn’t mean you get to stand here and tell me I didn’t see what I saw.”
“Do you even know what you saw that night?” I asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”
I turned and walked away, managing to keep my head held high amidst the rush of whispers that followed. They were all as bad as each other.
Chapter 16
Dorian
Victor had already grabbedmy throat twice that morning, so I avoided the pack as much as possible at school. Everywhere I went, whispers and hard stares followed. The townies were still rattled by the disastrous Halloween party, and every wolf but me was reacting badly.
At lunch, I didn’t notice Margo in the canteen, so I went outside to find her. I was tired of being Victor’s punching bag. He could self-combust for all I cared.
Margo was sitting huddled on the front steps reading a book. Her beanie was slung low down her forehead, but she still looked half-frozen. I rubbed my hands together. It was getting colder. I made my way over to her, hesitantly at first. But she looked up and smiled, and the air seemed to warm a little.
“Good book?” I asked.
She flushed and put it away. The glance I’d taken at the title revealed it was some kind of homeopathy guide on sleep disorders. “Not sure I understand half of it.” She pulled her sleeves down over her gloved hands.
I sat next to her. “You’ll catch your death out here.”
“It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” she said. “A lot chillier inside anyway.”
“Yeah, there’s kind of an atmosphere today. It’ll blow over.”
She glanced my way. “Will it?”
“They’ll always find something to hate each other over.”
She nudged me. “But not you.”
“I couldn’t be bothered to hate anyone.” I shrugged. “You feeling… okay?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “What happened the other day?”
What could I tell her? We were supposed to be acting as normal as possible. “Nothing happened.”
“Come on, Dorian. We’ve both seen weird things happen. You don’t have to pretend to—”
“Nothing happened,” I repeated, unable to hold her gaze.
She made a sound of disgust then got up to leave. “I hate liars.”
I wasn’t a liar. I just couldn’t tell the truth.
* * *
I tooktwo of the younger wolfhounds on a walk after school, past the woods and along a road that ran behind a housing estate. It was usually a quiet place to walk, and I needed to think. Everything had gotten a lot weirder lately. Even without the crazy spirit nonsense.