Read Page 16

"Jessica?" I softly tapped on the door with my knuckles. "Jess? It's Bets. Can I come in?"

Silence. I could hear her moving around in there, but she wasn't talking. Ugh. I could take anything-death, torture, knockoffs-but the silent treatment.Advertisement

"Jess? I fucked up, honey. Really really bad. I'm so sorry. Sorry for hitting you and biting you and saying all those rotten things." Listing my sins made me feel worse, if possible. "Can I please come in?"

Nothing. And who could blame her? I wouldn't talk to me, either.

"Jess, let me in, sweetie. Wouldn't you rather see me groveling in person? And I've got a good grovel going, you really don't want to miss it."

Nothing.

"Well." I coughed. "I wanted to tell you I'm not evil anymore and say I'm sorry for-you know. For everything. I'll-uh-I'll be around if you need to talk. Or something. Okay? Okay. Well, I'm gonna go now."

I paused, waiting for her to dramatically fling open the door and holler for me to wait. That's what always happened in the movies. Then I turned around and walked down the hall.

This was gonna be much, much harder than I thought. I'd fucked it up all the way around, all because I'd decided to read the Book of the Dead instead of rereading Gone With the Wind. I felt like Scarlett after the Yankees went through Tara, except less attractive.

Marc and Tina were at the foot of the stairs, talking. I resisted the urge to eavesdrop-I'd made enough mistakes in the last forty-eight hours-and slowly walked down to meet them.

"Feeling better, Majesty?" Tina asked. Her smile looked real. Marc seemed okay, too. His shoulders were a little set, but he looked relaxed enough.

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"Um, yeah. Listen-"

"I'm glad you're all right now. And I must apologize for taking liberties with your person. I-"

I grabbed her little paws and looked down into her big pansy eyes. "Oh, Tina, I'm the one who owes you the apology. I suck!"

The corner of her mouth twitched as she attempted to extricate her hands. "Majesty, you do not."

"No, I totally do. I feel so bad that I tried to kill you. I'm glad you kicked my ass. Humiliated, but glad. I didn't know you could fight like that!"

She laughed and brushed her straw-colored bangs out of her eyes. "Luckily for me. I must admit, I had a bad moment when you threw your necklace at me."

"Well, I'm really sorry."

"I, also. I am glad," she added with touching sincerity, "you are better."

"Oh, I'm completely evil-free."

"And... you rose while the sun was up."

"Yeah. Turn evil, get a new power," I joked. "It's like the worst trade-off ever."

"Hmm," she replied, giving me the same look Sinclair had. It wasn't much fun when she looked at me that way, either.

"You should have seen her rolling around in the grass like a big blond puppy," Marc said. "It was pretty hilarious."

"You hush," I said, but I couldn't help smiling. It felt good after recent events. pqdm.com