The Blue Woods by Nicole Maggi Read Free Book Online Page B

overhead, my chest prickling with pain. “Well, I need a cigarette,” I announced. “Alessia, will you help me outside?”
    â€œYou are not allowed in my room smelling like smoke,” Jenny said. “I’m not going to die from secondhand smoke because of you.”
    I rolled my head to the side to glare at her. “Oh, for Chrissake,” I hissed. “I need to talk to Alessia alone and I was trying not to be obvious. Happy?”
    That, at least, put a shadow of a smile on Alessia’s face. I leaned into her as we hobbled to the front door. “This is going to be the most not-fun slumber party in the history of slumber parties,” I muttered. I glanced into the kitchen as we passed. Lidia was at the stove, stirring something in a big pot over a low flame. It smelled like tomato sauce. Really delicious, homemade tomato sauce. Lidia looked up, her eyes big as a doll’s, but Alessia squared her shoulders and pulled open the front door.
    Outside, the cold slapped me across the face. Should’ve grabbed my coat on the way out. I propped myself up against the side of the house. “So what the hell was that all about?”
    Alessia sighed and dropped to sit on the steps. “Apparently my mother has been lying to me my entire life.”
    â€œJoin the club,” I said. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel like my parents were keeping something from me.”
    â€œYeah, well, some of us aren’t used to that.” Alessia looked at the patch of bare trees that filled the space between the house and the street. “My grandparents were Benandanti. They didn’t die in an accident like I thought. They died in battle when I was a baby. Oh, and that wasn’t the reason my parents moved back here from Italy. They moved back here before that because my mom wanted to get me away from Nerina.”
    â€œHow did your mom know Nerina? Italy isn’t that small.”
    â€œI guess Friuli is,” Alessia said. She blew out a breath, making a loose strand of hair dance across her face. “Nerina Called my mom when she was my age. My mom’s a Refuser.”
    â€œReally?” I gazed at the sky. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only one.”
    â€œWell, I’m glad you’re happy to hear it.” Alessia shook her head. “She says she’s known for months that I’m a Benandante. But she never said anything. What the hell kind of parenting is that?”
    â€œThe crappy kind,” I said. “I can’t believe Nerina didn’t tell you this.”
    â€œWell, it wasn’t her place to tell me,” Alessia said. “And actually, that doesn’t surprise me at all. I mean, Nerina keeps a lot of stuff from us. I think she truly enjoys knowing things the rest of us don’t.”
    If Nerina was a nail, Alessia had just hit her on the head. “That’s for damn sure,” I said. I moved to sit next to Alessia, every joint and muscle creaking. “In the car on the way over here, she told me that the Malandanti can’t fight each other. Their auras prevent it. I’d never read that in any of the books—and I went deep into those books. If it had been in there, I would’ve known.”
    â€œSo do you think she’s lying?”
    â€œNo.” I flexed my fingers. All my nails were chipped and broken. The Rabbit owed me a manicure, among many other things. “I think it’s probably true, but for some reason she didn’t want that to be common knowledge. After all,” I cocked my head, “who do you think wrote those books to begin with?”
    â€œThe Concilio ,” Alessia answered. “Maybe not her specifically . . .”
    â€œ. . . but her people at least.” The cold concrete made me feel like I was sitting on a block of ice. I shifted so that I was on the doormat, leaving enough space for Alessia to settle next to me. “I