Awry by Chelsea Fine Read Free Book Online Page A

ex-girlfriend, Raven, cursed an arrow so Gabriel could never know love without me, and then she shot me with the arrow. Tristan jumped in front of the arrow to save my life, but the arrow went through him and hit my heart. Tristan’s immortal blood was on the arrow when it entered my heart, making me semi-immortal. So even though I died from the arrow wound, I still came back to life years later. Because Tristan’s blood is inside me, we’re connected. So now, he can feel my emotions and everything. Which is awkward.”
    Scarlet thought about how she had felt the desire in Tristan earlier. She shook her head and continued, “Tristan’s immortal blood is too powerful for my mortal heart. So his blood—blood that pumps through my veins right now,” Scarlet touched a hand to her chest, “slowly kills me. The closer I am to Tristan, the more powerful his blood becomes, gradually tearing apart my heart until I get really sick and…die.”
    Did this sound stupid?
    “I stay dead for a few decades and then Tristan’s blood brings my heart back to life.”
    Heather stared at her.
    Scarlet said, “But when I’m alive, Tristan is in pain. Because of the curse, he can’t be far away from me without hurting. The other part of the curse is that Gabriel can never know love without me, so I’m his only chance at true love. So in essence, we’re all screwed.” Scarlet paused.
    “The best way to undo the curse is to find the fountain of youth. Water from the fountain is what gave Gabriel and Tristan their immortality and I thought it was the only thing that could cure me, but Tristan found out that if he managed to die his immortal blood inside my body would die as well, so I wouldn’t get sick again. And that’s what he tried to do tonight.” Scarlet blinked, feeling the fear of losing Tristan skitter through her limbs.
    ”Tristan tried to kill himself with a special arrow and I…I sorta got in the way.” She pointed to the bloodstains on the back of her dress. “The arrow hit me instead of Tristan and I died.” Scarlet hurriedly added, “But I came right back to life. I’m all healed. See?” She turned around to show Heather her smooth back and braved a very forced smile.
    Please believe me.
    Heather said nothing.
    Scarlet cleared her throat. “So I’m not sick anymore and Tristan is alive. But we still need to find the fountain of youth. Until then,” Scarlet shifted her weight, “I’m semi-immortal.”
    Heather had listened without moving. She was like a statue.
    A blond, well-dressed statue, with red fingernails.
    Regret crept into Scarlet’s head, admonishing her for dumping five hundred years of unbelievable information on her friend in the span of five minutes.
    Scarlet felt her palms begin to sweat. She waited. She wiped her hands on her skirt again.
    Eventually, Heather opened her mouth. “Are you…are you telling me the truth?”
    Scarlet nodded. “I swear.”
    “You’re not lying to me? Or joking?”
    Scarlet pursed her lips and shook her head.
    Heather blinked. “Gabriel and Tristan are immortal?”
    Scarlet nodded.
    “And you’re semi-immortal? And all of you are cursed?”
    Scarlet nodded again. “I know it sounds insane.”
    Heather looked scared. “And are you…are you dying right now? Are yousick?”
    Scarlet answered, “Not this time. Not yet. My death tonight reset my body.”
    Heather stared at Scarlet and nodded. “Um….” She swallowed. “Um….”
    This was it. Scarlet was about to lose her best friend. Heather was probably going to run out of the house, screaming bloody murder, and Scarlet wouldn’t blame her.
    She watched emotion fill Heather’s eyes and, suddenly, Heather’s arms were wrapped around Scarlet, hugging her until the corset was no longer Scarlet’s biggest breathing obstacle.
    “I love you,” Heather said, her voice shaky. “And I don’t want you to die. Ever. I don’t care about any curse or fountain. All I care about is you. You can’t