Going Down in Flames (Going Down in Flames #1)(34)

She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. “That’s it? That’s your sucky apology?”

“You know you’re at fault here, too, right?”

She pointed at the window. “Good-bye.”

“Seriously?” He huffed out a breath. “You want me to go?”

How could he not understand? “No. I want you to tell me you’re sorry for being a jerk to me right after I was emotionally traumatized by my grandmother.” Angry tears pricked her eyes. “I want you to tell me I can trust you. I need to know that there is one person on this stupid campus I can depend on.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I forget how alien this must be to you.”

“Alien?” She laughed. “That’s a good description for it.” She pointed at the box he held. “What’s that?”

I brought you extra carrot cake as part of my sucky apology.” He flipped the lid open. Six pieces of cake wrapped in cellophane and half a dozen forks sat inside the white cardboard box.

Her mouth watered. “You should have led with that.” She snatched the box and headed into the living room. Cake in hand, she sat on the far end of the couch.

Zavien joined her and helped himself to a piece of cake. “How bad were things with your grandmother?”

“She denied my existence…said I wasn’t her granddaughter and accused me of wanting her money.”

“Ouch.” He scraped the icing off his cake. “That had to hurt.”

“It did.” She pointed at his now naked slice of cake. “You don’t like icing?”

“It’s too sweet.” He shrugged. “I like the cake.”

“That’s just wrong.”

“Did your grandmother say anything else?”

Bryn relayed the conversation between bites of cake. “I don’t understand why she wouldn’t even give me a chance.”

“Blues are all about loyalty and pride. What your mother did brought her family’s loyalty to the Clan into question. It damaged their honor and their pride. Blues have been known to hold grudges for centuries.”

“Great. So there’s no hope for any type of relationship with them?”

“The odds are not in your favor,” Zavien said. “What about your dad’s family?”

“I haven’t run across any McKennas yet. Do you know any?”

“No, but I don’t know many Reds. We can look into the school database and see if there’s any information.”

“Thank you. I’d love that.”

“On to the next topic,” he said. “Are you ready for school tomorrow?”

“If I said no, would it make a difference?”

“Not really.” He set his cake plate down and held out his hand. “Show me your schedule.”

Bryn retrieved the schedule from her desk and passed it to him. “What do you think?”

“It’s not bad.” He studied the paper. “You’re lucky to have Elemental Science first hour. Mr. Stanton’s mood declines as the day goes on. Sixth hour students always end up in detention.”

“With the way my life is going, I’m sure they’ll transfer me to sixth hour before the end of the week.” She finished off her last bite of cake and eyed the box. Should she do it? Why not? She grabbed another piece.

“You have Basic Movement before lunch fourth hour. That’s good. You can shower and not worry about being late for your next class.”

Dear God, please don’t let there be communal showers. Maybe she’d run back to her room to clean up.

“After lunch, you have Algebra and Proper Decorum. Staying awake while someone lectures you about how to behave in polite society will be tough.”

“I’m sure everyone will be impressed when I drool on my desk.”

He glanced at his watch. “Curfew is in twenty minutes. I better go.”

She followed him into her bedroom. He opened the window and then paused. “Your being here isn’t going to be easy, but you can handle it.”

“Is this your version of a pep talk?”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “You have no idea how hard it is for me not to remind you to keep a low profile. Promise me you’ll try to stay calm and not burn down the campus.”

“I promise I’ll try.”

He shifted on the terrace and took flight. She watched until he disappeared into the night sky. She pulled up her email and found one from Beth talking about how boring school was without her. Her friend’s normal day sounded like heaven. God, she missed normal. Telling Beth about her new life proved difficult, since there were so many dragon-related things she couldn’t mention. In the end, she settled on telling her about Clint and Ivy. Then she sent a quick email to her parents, mentioning the high points of her day. After that, there was nothing left to do but go to sleep, so she changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed, and hugged her spare pillow. She was a big girl. She could do this. Right? Right. The carrot cake called to her. Why not? She got up, finished off the last three slices of cake, and then called it a night.

…

The discordant piano music came too early the next morning. Bryn stumbled to the dresser and smacked the top of the alarm.

“Damn thing doesn’t even have a snooze button.”