Almost Final Curtain Read Online Free PDF Page B

gig for you.”
    That was a lie. I mean, I’m sure I played a large role in his decision, but it was clear the band was going to get great publicity for this charity stunt. Still, despite my personal embarrassment, it was pretty cool that his band was willing to come to my school to perform, so I told him, “This isn’t about the stupid school play.”
    There was a long moment when Nik said nothing. I even checked to see if we’d been disconnected, and was about to see if he was still there when he said, “Now I know something’s seriously wrong. ‘Stupid school play’? Who are you and what have you done with the real Ana Parker?”
    He was trying to make light, but I wasn’t in the mood. Even though the lady sitting next to me had earphones in both ears, I whispered into the receiver, “You’re so quick to pull up that freaking blade. You know it hurts me.”
    More silence, only this time it was much deeper. When he finally spoke, his tone was clipped. “Actually, I forget. I don’t think of you as one of them.”
    “Well, I am ‘them.’ I’m their goddamn princess.” A person with a better-honed dramatic sense, like Bea, for instance, would have snapped the phone shut at that moment and ended the conversation. But I wanted to hear what Nikolai would say to that, so I waited. The more the silence grew, the more I started to regret my words. I didn’t really mean to come on that strong. “Goddamn” was a little harsh, and Nik was sort of apologizing in a backhanded way when he said he forgot I was a vamp, and—
    And I should probably say something, because I wasn’t sure he would.
    “Maybe we need to talk about this stuff,” I said hopefully. “You know, really air everything out.”
    “Yeah,” he agreed gruffly.
    “How about you drop by tonight after eight and we can go somewhere?”
    “Sure,” was all he said, and I didn’t need the powers of a True Witch to sense the looming breakup.
    “Okay, cool,” I said without enthusiasm. Well, at least I had solved one of my problems—no one would be jealous that I was a rock star’s girlfriend anymore. “See you then. Bye.”
    Well, way to screw that up, I thought as I closed the phone and tucked it into the front pocket of my backpack. I almost pulled it back out to text Bea, but I wouldn’t get much sympathy from that corner. I could always send a “he’s all yours,” but I shouldn’t get her hopes up. After all, I didn’t know for sure it was over.
    It just felt like it.
    Tell me again why boys were such jerks?

Chapter Two
    I f Nikolai knew the real reason I told him to drop by at eight instead of earlier, things between us would’ve definitely been over—no conversation.
    I was expecting Elias at the house.
    Nikolai couldn’t stand Elias. Elias wasn’t just any old vampire. He was like the prince’s personal guard or something. Anyway, he was incredibly powerful, and Nikolai and his dad, the vampire hunter, desperately wanted to bag him.
    I left the usual signal for Elias—a red sock dangling from the windowsill—to let him know I was “receiving,” which was his courtly way of saying that it was safe to come by. I wished, however, we had a more elaborate system, like my striped Wicked Witch of the West stocking to say, “Watch out for Mom—she’s in a bad mood,” or a black one to indicate, “We have to keep this short because the hunter’s apprentice is coming at eight.”
    I’d have to hang out all three tonight. For some reason, Mom was crankier than usual. She completely freaked out over the fact that I’d taken the city bus home. Why didn’t I call her? Did I want to worry her to death?
    I tried not to roll my eyes the entire time she talked. Who knew that six minutes later than usual would be such a big deal? Especially since most Wednesdays she worked so late at the university—running one of her women’s spirituality groups—that I was usually asleep when she got home. That was the whole reason I had Elias