Adversity (10 page)

Perhaps
he saw a witch, someone to fear, when he gazed at her. His actions
could be an attempt to stave off her anger instead of the generous
protection she had assumed.

Worse, he
might see her as less than human. She had been judged by many, but
she couldn’t bear for such harsh judgement to come from
him.

Agitated,
and with her ego more than a little bruised, she realised one
glimpse wasn’t enough for her anymore. She shouldn’t allow a man to
follow her home every single evening when she didn’t even know his
name. She stopped short and turned around, determined to speak to
him. Dog growled, but she placed a hand on the animal’s neck to
quiet him.

“
Why?” she demanded.

The man
came closer, giving a little shrug as he pushed the sleeves of his
shirt higher on his arms.

“
You insulted my wife, and she spread rumours about you. As it
was my wife who made this walk dangerous for you, I thought it was
my responsibility to make sure no harm comes to you this
way.”

“
She insulted me
and
you!” Kali blurted.

He
smiled, and her knees weakened. “I’m used to it. It means little to
me.”

“
Well, it means a lot to me,” she insisted. “Surely a man
wouldn’t stand to be treated that way?” She immediately regretted
her words.

The
corners of his lips turned down. “Most see me as a boy.”

He wasn’t
a boy, not to her, not with his muscular shoulders and arms from
working the farm.

“
I didn’t mean any harm,” she said, hesitating as she tried to
think of a way to change the subject. “What age are
you?”

“
Eighteen.”

“
Eighteen? But she must be…” Kali covered her mouth.

He
smiled. “Older? Yes. My family has always been poor. Most of us
here live under the whims of the landowners. Her family wasn’t one
of the very wealthy, but they worked hard to buy land. In fact, her
family owned the land we worked on, and with it, the roof over our
heads. The rent wasn’t high, but when my father died, my mother
fell behind on payments. She ended up owing money to everyone.
Marusya's father had no sons, and his only daughter had come to
terms with being a spinster. Still, he couldn’t bear to dip into
his pockets to pay the wage for a farmhand, so he offered us a
deal.” He cleared his throat, and she could see how hard it was for
him to tell the story.

“
What was the deal?” she whispered, rooted to the
spot.

“
No eviction if we gave him a son-in-law. My eldest brother was
already married. My younger one was too young, so it was left to
me. They had money. My family didn’t, and they needed me to… do
something about it.”

“
What age were you?” she asked, intrigued that even the gaje
had strange ways of arranging a marriage.

“
Almost sixteen.”

“
I’m sixteen. I should have been married by now.”

“
Why aren’t you?”

She
smiled. “I’m special. And I’ve got Dog here to protect me, so you
don’t have to follow me around. I’m used to the kinds of rumours
women like your wife enjoy spreading around.”

She moved
to walk on, and held her breath with anticipation of his next move.
As she hoped, he called out to her. “You tell fortunes?”

She
hesitated.

“
Care to tell mine?”

She
should have kept moving. She should have walked back to camp,
straight away, and never stopped to speak to him at all. He was
different, though, and he spoke to her as if she were a worthy
person. Never as something he could use. The sadness in his eyes
compelled her to make him smile, or at least try.

“
What’s your name?” he asked, his voice urgent.

“
Kali. And you?”

“
Andriy. Andriy Ivaneska.”

“
Well, Andriy Ivaneska, why would you want to see your future?”
she asked, watching him under the cover of her eyelashes. “Why not
let it surprise you?”

“
I enjoy hearing you talk,” he admitted. “Your voice is
different. Peaceful.”

“
Shouldn’t you be working?”

His neck
and ears turned red. “I should, but I paid my younger brother to
take my place.”

“
Why?”

“
I hate the farm. And now that my wife’s father is dead, I have
some money. But I don’t know what to do with it.”

They
watched each other in silence. She realised they had more in common
than she expected, and a dangerous attraction pulled at them, the
kind that broke hearts and ruined futures. And there she was,
standing at the brink, about to fall in, and wanting to. Pretty
words weren’t pushing her; a warm embrace wasn’t tipping her over
the edge. The possibilities of a different future are what brought
her to the edge. She wanted to believe things might change. For the
first time in her life, she was tempted to see her own fate, to
watch it unfold before she took that step over the
precipice.

But she
didn’t look.

And she
took that first step toward him anyway.

Amelia

I was
huddled up in bed, still thinking about Kali and Andriy, when
Nathan pounded on my door.

“
Get up! We have to see Joey before school.”

Grumbling, I did as I was told because I couldn’t bear an
argument, although I dreaded the reception we’d get from Perdita’s
cousin. I couldn’t think straight while my head was still full of
my dreams of Andriy and the mistakes a dream girl was making,
mistakes that felt as though they might be my own. Not all parts of
the dreams were clear. I couldn’t remember every detail when I
awoke, but his face was burned into my memories. Now that I knew
his name, I couldn’t forget him if I tried.

On the
way to school, Nathan seemed wound tight with tension. I could have
choked on it. Didn’t he realise I had my own problems to deal with
without having to worry about his?

“
Any idea where Joey might be?” he asked, slightly calmer once
we were inside the school grounds.

“
How would I know?” I asked. He wanted me to check the
classrooms. “Ugh, fine.” Anything to get away from him.

With
Nathan following, I searched some classrooms for Joey. Nathan would
have a better idea than me where the kid was, but he couldn’t do
anything for himself when he was stressed out. Werewolves. Always
needing girls to solve their problems.

I
eventually found Joey, alone. I could almost hear him mentally
swearing when he caught sight of me. His eyebrows rose at Nathan’s
slightly aggressive entrance.

Joey
stood, looking entirely put upon. “I don’t have time for this.” He
gestured to his books.

“
It won’t take long,” Nathan said. “Tell me what’s happening.
Please.”

A bitter
glare. “If you cared, you’d have already gone over there to find
out.”

Nathan clenched his fists in frustration. “Joey, please. It’s
complicated. Trust me. I want nothing more than to go over there,
but I can’t right now, all right?” He took a deep breath. “Just
tell me he’s okay. That
she’s
okay.”

He stared
at Nathan steadily, different emotions crossing his face.
“Whatever. You’ll hear about it from someone else anyway. He’s not
okay, not exactly. He woke up yesterday.”

“
Woke up?” I blurted. Was it really that bad?

“
Yeah. He was in some kind of a coma. They had no clue what was
happening. They gave him a blood transfusion, and they think his
body reacted badly to it. He’s pretty sick, but nothing the doctors
give him seems to help.”

Nathan
twitched visibly, and my stomach churned with apprehension. Not
good, not good.

“
They think maybe he was already sick, and the attack triggered
it, because no way would he be this sick over a dog bite. He has to
stay in for a while.” He shrugged. “They don’t know what’s wrong,
not really.”

“
And Perdita?” Nathan asked weakly.

Joey took
his seat again. “She hasn’t gone home yet,” he said, opening one of
his books.

“
Is she at the hospital alone?” Nathan asked, his voice harsh
and accusing.

Joey
didn’t seem impressed. “Sometimes. But her mother turned up
yesterday.”

The way
he said it chilled me. I would give anything to have my mother turn
up. “Is that such a bad thing?” I couldn’t help asking.

He turned
his face full of scorn toward me. “Sounds as if you don’t know
Perdy at all.” He picked up a pen and flicked through a couple of
pages of his book, clearly dismissing us.

“
Can you give her a message?” Nathan asked. I had to hand it to
my brother. He was definitely persistent.

Joey
shook his head without looking at us. “Tell her yourself. Won’t
matter if it comes from me.”

Nathan’s
face flushed such a deep shade of fuchsia that I felt sure he would
hulk out and flip over a table or something. I cringed, waiting for
him to explode.

“
I don’t want to make things worse.” His voice had tightened,
coiled up with pain.

“
I’ll tell her to call you. That’s all.” Joey’s wall was back
up. There was no way we were getting through to him. Nathan
wouldn’t follow me out of the room, so I grabbed his arm and pulled
him after me, surprised by how easy it was to move a
werewolf.

“
What’s wrong with her dad?” I asked to try to distract him
from the whirlwind of emotions obviously spinning in his head. He
looked tortured. That wasn’t good for a werewolf. Even I knew
that.

“
I don’t know, but I need to see her.”

“
You can’t,” I reminded him, instantly regretting it. He let
out a grunt of rage and slammed his fist into a locker, leaving a
significant dent in the metal and sending my heart straight into my
throat. He rushed off, but I couldn’t move; I was shocked by the
force of his anger. I had never seen him so unhinged.

I knew
with certainty that he needed Perdita now more than ever. And there
was nothing I could do to help him or me. My own temper was scaring
me. What hope was there for me if even Nathan couldn’t control
himself?

School
started and in class, Ger kept asking me questions, but my mumbled
monosyllabic answers soon silenced her. I liked her well enough,
but I couldn’t focus. Nathan’s anger had knocked me off balance,
too, though deep down, I knew my dreams had more to do with my
imbalance than I liked to admit. Everything about the dreams
bothered me now. In my dreams, people were used for the gain of
others, and two people wanted comfort from the one person they were
supposed to avoid. Kali’s situation seemed so disastrous and tragic
and as hopeless as my brother’s relationship. To feel that
connection with someone must be amazing, and I had a little taste
of it every night.

I was
late to lunch, but made it in time to see Aaron towering over
Nathan. They weren’t speaking, just staring at each other. Aaron
stepped back a little, a look of alarm on his face. Maybe he saw
the wolf behind Nathan’s eyes, or maybe he realised Nathan wasn’t
backing down. Of course, Aaron also wouldn’t want to back down in
front of everyone, so he made a pathetic little smirk and threw a
punch.

I
flinched as his fist flew toward Nathan, who blocked it easily,
then sharply struck Aaron twice in the face before anyone could
react.

Aaron
fell back, but Nathan grabbed the back of his shirt before he
landed, forcing him to turn and face the ground, his body held up
only by Nathan’s grip. Everyone gasped as one, unable to break the
spell. Nathan said something to Aaron, but his face was ugly, with
more than a little of his animal side showing through. I took a
step, half-afraid he would suddenly phase and rip Aaron apart, but
I stopped. What on earth could I do to stop him? Shame flooded me
once again. I was afraid of my own brother.

I could
have sworn Nathan’s shoulder blades jerked out of place, but the
principal arrived, and called out my brother. He snapped out of it,
reining in his wolf. I saw the horror on his face as he realised
what he had done. Blood ran down Aaron’s chin and neck, while half
of Nathan’s friends glared hateful daggers at him, and I… I was
more shocked than anyone. Nathan had control, but he’d totally lost
it, all because he wasn’t close to Perdita. His actions only
reinforced what I already knew. That curse had to go.

The
principal and Nathan left, and all hell seemed to break loose.
Everyone spoke at once. Excited, hyperbolic comments filled the
room. The incident had looked bad enough without people’s
overreaction making it sound worse. Aaron, soaking up the sympathy,
was escorted out, and he looked back at me with an unmistakeable
sneer on his face. I wished Nathan had saved a punch for
me.

A girl
grabbed my arm. She was someone I didn’t remember ever seeing
before. “Oh, my God. Your brother is so going to be expelled! I
heard he was kicked out of his last school for stabbing someone. Is
that true?”