Incubus by Jennifer Quintenz Read Free Book Online Page A

pounding.
    “He told you to stay seated,” came Amber’s calm voice. I turned. Of everyone in the classroom,
    only Amber wasn’t reacting to the sounds issuing over the loudspeakers. She sat, calmly, while our
    peers clamped their hands over their mouths or laughed outright in disbelief.
    “You?” Realization came in an icy rush. Amber’s eyes didn’t waver.
    A shrill whine screeched over the speaker and students clutched hands over their ears, wincing in
    pain.
    “...said turn it off!” roared Fiedler. The speaker finally fell silent.
    “I told you not to come back to school,” Amber said. Her eyes hadn’t left my face.
    I felt my hands balling into fists at my sides. A growing rage clouded my vision. “Why Cassie?”
    “Be honest, Lilitu,” Amber said, lowering her voice to a hiss. “You didn’t think I was any kind of
    threat, did you? Sure, maybe I can’t do anything to you. But you better believe I can make your friends
    suffer. If you don’t decide to leave Coronado Prep, things are going to get a lot harder for the people
    you love.”
    For a moment, the only thing I could hear was the rush of blood in my ears. I lunged for Amber,
    but she was faster than I’d bargained for. She jumped out of her seat and grinned at me. The class spun
    around in their seats to stare at us.
    “Girl fight!” one of the guys called, and another round of laughter filled the class. I was too pissed
    to care. Amber didn’t take her eyes off of me. She was grinning with malicious glee.
    “Do it,” Amber said. “I dare you. You’ll be doing me a huge favor by getting yourself expelled.”
    It took all of my self-control, but I forced myself to turn my back on her, pick up Cassie’s and my
    things, and walk out of the classroom.

    It took almost 20 minutes, but I finally found Cassie sitting on the bleachers overlooking the school’s
    soccer field. Royal was perched next to her. As soon as I saw them I texted Lucas, then ran across the
    field to join them.
    Cassie looked up as I arrived, winded from my sprint. She held a long blade of grass in her hands,
    carefully shredding it into tiny fragments.
    “I’m okay,” she said. I glanced at Royal behind her, and he shrugged helplessly. Cassie sensed the
    motion and smiled wearily. “Guys, I’m okay. I mean, this isn’t going down in my diary as one of the
    best days ever.” She studied the mutilated blade of grass in her hand then sighed, letting the pieces fall
    to the earth at her feet. “But I’ve already wasted too much of my life thinking about—” she bit her lip,
    betraying exactly how close she was to breaking. “Besides,” she whispered, “everyone knew already.”
    She reached up to wipe away a tear as it slid down one cheek.
    “Oh, Cass.” I sat on the bench next to Cassie, fully aware that I was helpless to ease her pain.
    “Cassie sandwich,” Royal said. He reached his arms toward me and we pulled each other close in a
    group hug, squashing Cassie between us.
    She struggled between us, but she was laughing. “Okay, okay. I need to breathe.”
    As we released her, Lucas appeared at the edge of the field. Cassie saw him and waved. Lucas
    waved back, jogging over to join us.
    “No meltdown pending,” Cassie said as Lucas scooted next to me on the bench. “Pinky swear.”
    She looked up into the wide, blue sky. A few brilliant white cumulus clouds edged one horizon, fat and
    lazy and comforting. Cassie watched them for a moment. When she next spoke, her voice was wistful.
    “I just wish I knew why.”
    It was like a knife turning in my gut. Maybe I should have told them the truth right then; Cassie
    had been punished for my crimes, and Amber was threatening to hurt the rest of them, too. And I had
    the power to stop it, I just had to give up the one normal thing in my life: high school.
    Instead of speaking, I squeezed Cassie’s hand and vowed to myself to do everything I could to stop
    Amber from hurting anyone else I loved. Even in my