IN THE LUNCH LINE, Arianne could only gaze with dismay at all the food, each one begging for her attention like a dog at the pound. Tater tots. Meat loaf. Mac-n-cheese. The spaghetti and meatballs she’d had with Niko still partied in her stomach. She grunted.
“What? No appetite?” Ben bumped her hip with his, moving her along. He reached for the plate heaped with tots and a slice of pizza the lunch lady gave to him.
“Good luck at the game, slugger,” the lunch lady said.
Ben gave her a megawatt smile when he noticed the extra helping of pepperoni.
Arianne studied him. “When’s the game?”
“Friday.” Ben grabbed two milk cartons and dumped one on Arianne’s empty tray. “If you’re not going to eat anything, might as well have milk. It’ll keep you going for the rest of the day.”
They swiped their lunch cards at the end of the line and ambled to their table.
“Does your lack of appetite have anything to do with the little book hunt Darla organized for you?” Ben slid into his seat and set his tray on the table like a flying saucer in for a landing.
“You heard about that?” Arianne rolled her eyes. “I suppose you would have. Darla loves letting everyone know about her latest plan to humiliate me. She made me go to Mrs. Whistle first! You know how she freaks me out.”
“That old bat freaks everyone out. Why do you think no one hangs around the office if they don’t have to?”
“Darla actually asked about Niko in gym today. I should have known better than to think she wouldn’t be suspicious.”
Ben whistled. “Blood’s in the water. What did you say?”
“That we didn’t have a real connection except for being new partners in chem.”
“And she bought that?”
“For now.” Arianne waited for Ben to get at least two bites of his pizza in before she said, “About this morning.”
“Don’t remind me,” Ben said between chews. He glanced over her shoulder. “Since he’s in school, I’m assuming that he’s all right.”
She peeked over her shoulder at Niko. He nodded once at her before returning to his conversation with Desmond. Arianne blushed for a second. Then she remembered why she ended up in the In Between with Niko.
“You won’t believe what happened.” Arianne played soccer with her milk carton.
“What’s with the sad face?” Ben leaned forward until she met his gaze.
“I saw Tammy’s mother today.”
“How is that possible when she’s—” Ben stopped mid-sentence and moved his chair closer to Arianne’s. He hooked an arm over her shoulders.
She buried her face into his chest and breathed in his cool scent, winning her battle against a new onslaught of tears. “I ran out of the chem lab after Tammy was called away. Niko followed me. I cried in his arms and he took me to this place.”
“You cried in his arms? And he let you?”
“Oh, shut up!” Arianne smacked his shoulder. “He’s a nice guy. He comforted me. Brought me to the In Between.”
“The what?”
“It’s this place. Like an alternate dimension where he controls everything. You should have seen it. A beautiful lake. A dock. And every time I asked for something, all he had to do was close his eyes and it would appear. He’s not human.”
Ben took his time repositioning his plate in front of him. “This is by far the craziest thing you’ve ever told me.”
“Why can’t you look me in the eye?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Of what?”
“How ridiculous this sounds.”
Arianne tore open the lip of her milk carton and drank several draughts. “I know.” She put the carton down and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “I was there every step of the way. Short of saying I’m mentally unhinged and took hallucinogens recently, there’s really no way I can ask you to believe me.”
The complete trust in Ben’s eyes when he did look her in the eye almost drowned Arianne. Her best friend continued to believe her, no matter how crazy she sounded. Love, the kind that took years to grow, lifted the roadblocks of doubt.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked.
“Research.”
Knowing the Internet wouldn’t help much, Arianne surrounded herself with all the books she could find on the occult, the history of witchcraft, and a few magazines catering to the supernatural that Blackwood’s librarian ordered for herself on the school’s dime. Not that Arianne minded on this occasion since she had more material to work with when it came to the question of Nikolas Clark’s true identity. She’d commandeered her usual table at the back and spread out all the books she’d pulled off the shelves—some had a layer of dust and smelled cloyingly sweet.
She’d sifted through pages and pages of material, mostly about folklore and superstitions, but nothing that directly matched the clues Niko had given her. So deep in thought, separating possible facts and exaggerated fiction, she hadn’t noticed someone hovering closer and closer until a slender hand splayed over the page she’d been reading.
“I thought you had nothing to do with Niko?” a sickeningly syrupy voice asked.
Arianne flinched at the menace mixed in with all that sugar. “It’s the truth, Darla,” she said, looking up at her unexpected visitor.
The murder of countless dreams flashed in Darla’s eyes before a languid smile smoothed the surface. “Ari, Ari, Ari, why must you continue to lie to me?”
“Dar, you lost the right to call me Ari years ago. So, stop while you’re ahead.”
Darla eased a chair away from the table and sat beside Arianne. She crossed both her arms and legs. “I’ve missed you biting back. Really, Arianne.”
The softness in the way Darla spoke brought buried memories to the surface like a corpse clawing its way out of a grave. “You’re not here to rehash all that hurt, are you? I didn’t peg you to be the sadistic sort.”
“Okay, to the point then.” Darla shrugged a shoulder. “Mickey saw you run out of chemistry upset. Niko leaves the room in a hurry. Then a minute later, you both reenter the room. What am I supposed to make of that?”
“Nothing.”
“Why were you upset, Ari?”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
Darla grabbed Arianne’s wrist and squeezed. “Why?”
Arianne studied Darla’s pointy knuckles. “Tammy’s mother just died.”
The hand retreated. “I’m sorry, Ari.”
“Are you? Really?”
“In all these years, you still doubt my sincerity?”
“Don’t make things harder than they already are, Dar. Just leave me alone.”
“Why did Niko leave the room right after you did?”
Flipping a page she’d finished reading, Arianne said, “I don’t know. I ran into the bathroom.” The lie rolled off her tongue like the Happy Birthday song.
“So, there’s really nothing going on with you and Niko?” She leaned closer.
The sharpness of Darla’s lavender perfume had Arianne wrinkling her nose. “Why are you so interested?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask.” Darla, so prim and proper, sneered. She clamped her fingers around the back of Arianne’s neck, preventing escape as she traversed the remaining inches between them in a meeting of lips.
Arianne gasped, which allowed Darla access. She deepened the kiss then pulled away. “I don’t appreciate what’s mine being taken from me.” She got up, dusting off her skirt as she did, and left.