Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(9)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Down, boy. I’m only kidding.

Just for that when I get there I am ordering a large milkshake.

I call a truce! I was NOT making any more milkshakes today. Ugh.

Truce, then. I’ll see you in a bit.

I glanced at the clock and willed the next two hours to pass quickly.

*   *   *

Ten minutes left until my shift ended and Sam still wasn’t there. Usually by now, he was, but Logan called and asked him to pick him up so he could get some ice cream, too. So instead of being here, he was on his way to get Logan. After spending all night with him. We hardly even had a moment alone this morning when I brought breakfast over. I sighed, I didn’t like feeling jealous and I realized that I was being stupid. It wasn’t that I minded Sam spending time with someone else; he needed a life outside of me. I just didn’t trust Logan. No matter how hard I tried. But he is the only family Sam had and I was going to keep supporting their relationship no matter how hard it was (or until something happened to prove I had a reason to not trust him). I wondered how much longer I was going to be able to hide my feelings about Logan from Sam.

Besides, I wanted to like Logan and I wanted us to get along. I knew he was having a hard time with everything that’s happened to him and what it was like to feel lost in your own skin, to see a stranger in the mirror. Heck, some mornings I still looked in the mirror and was surprised with what I saw. I had gotten used to my scars, had learned to accept them, and now they were gone. I think I could be a help to him if only he wouldn’t look at me the way he sometimes did when Sam wasn’t looking.

I thought back to the day that Logan had showed up at Sam’s old apartment. Sam was outside loading the last of his moving boxes in the truck while I ran back inside to grab one last, forgotten box. Logan appeared in front of me, with a not-so-friendly look on his face. He seemed to enjoy my fear and even took a menacing step toward me. I often wondered what he would have done if Sam hadn’t come in the door behind him. From then on, he was the kid brother who worshipped Sam and emulated everything his big brother did. He always treated me like a friend, if not a distant friend. But he always managed to worm his way between Sam and I. Whenever Sam touched or kissed me Logan had an “Ewww gross,” or a “Sam, can you help me?” that always drew Sam’s attention from me. I understood that Logan was only fourteen and that his life was destroyed the day he turned into a hellhound and he ran away, but sometimes, it felt like Logan liked getting between us.

The doorbell rang and I turned, knowing it wasn’t Sam, but hoping to see my replacement behind the counter.

It was Cole, followed by a dark-headed woman.

“I thought you were going shopping with Kimber.”

Cole made a face and then pulled the woman forward. “Shopping isn’t my idea of a good time. Thought I’d bring my mom for some ice cream. She loves the raspberry chip here.”

I studied his mother, someone who, amazingly, I’d never met before. She was beautiful. She looked younger than I knew she had to be and had shoulder-length hair the same dark shade as Cole’s. She was shorter than him, thin and dressed nicely, but comfortably, in cropped jeans and a sleeveless blue sweater. Her eyes were not blue like Cole’s, but brown and warm.

“A scoop of raspberry chip coming right up.” I smiled at her before turning to the cooler to scoop out her ice cream.

“Is this a friend of yours from school, Cole?” his mother asked him.

“I’ve told you about her, Mom. This is Heven.”

As he spoke, I reached out to hand the ice cream to his mother. Cole’s mother looked at me, something in her eyes going cold. At the same time, her aura burst with an ugly mustard color with tendrils of brown. It was completely startling because when she first walked in her aura was serene in mostly colors of blue and green. In fact, her aura didn’t change until Cole told her my name.

“This is your friend, Heven?” his mother asked, low, her hand going up to her throat.

“Yeah,” he said, reaching to take the ice cream I was still holding out. He gave me a small smile before turning to her. His aura, usually full of pure, crystal-clear colors was disrupted by an ugly shade of mustard, signaling he was worried. Clearly, he noticed his mother’s odd reaction. “Here’s your ice cream,” he said, holding it out.

His mother recoiled from the cup like it was poison and then looked up at me, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. This woman did not like me.

“It’s really nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Springer,” I said, not understanding why she was staring at me this way. It brought me back to when I had my scars and I felt like I should duck my head and hide.

She opened her mouth to respond then closed it again.

“Mom,” Cole prompted, his eyes sliding to me briefly before going back to his mother.

“You know, honey, I don’t really feel like ice cream anymore. I think I will walk next door to the bakery and pick something up for dinner.”

“O-okay,” Cole said, frowning.

His mother pulled out her wallet to pay me for the ice cream and I said, “No charge.”

Her eyes flew to my face and the color of mustard, of anger, bloomed around her again. “You don’t owe me anything. I’ll pay.”

“Mom,” Cole said, alarmed.

“But you don’t even want the ice cream,” I said, confused. Why did she dislike me so much?

She put a few bills down on the counter and went to the door, calling Cole behind her. Cole gave me an apologetic look and then went after her.

When they were gone, I leaned against the counter, exhausted. First, the place is practically mobbed by a crowd; then I get slammed by Kimber’s jealousy and now by Cole’s mother’s anger. What else could go wrong today?

Knowing that Sam was probably almost here, I walked into the back to grab my bag from the break room. I couldn’t wait to be out of here. While I was in the back, I heard the door chime again and smiled. But then an unfamiliar feeling came over me. My smile fell away as I went out front cautiously.

It wasn’t Sam.

It wasn’t human either.

The day had finally come. The day that Sam feared above all others.

The day I would be forced to fight off a demon alone.

Chapter Three

Heven

It stared at me without a word. Its eyes were a singular color—muddy brown. They had no depth, no emotion… no life. I felt a tremor work its way up my back. It was the first time one of these things had come here and I fooled myself into thinking I was safe at work.