Criteria (YA Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (5 page)

“Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“Why would I? You don’t have anything I want . . . anymore.”

“Huh? You think you’ve got dibs on that Wisteria girl or something? Trust me, just because she’s chubby doesn’t mean she’s automatically going to fall for you. Remember the girl isn’t blind; there are other guys here too. She has better, more human options, so she’ll never agree.”

“Agreeing is overrated, but I wasn’t talking about Wisteria. I’ll save her for Jack or Steven, because they’ve been checking her out.”

“Get out of my face!”

“I know Jack better than you do. He has a thing for girls who can fight back. Why do you think he sticks around with Yumi?”

“Shut up.” Again, she forced her way past him.

Monty stopped her, pushing her against the wall. “Jack thinks you’re fun, but he needs someone he has to overpower. He only sleeps with you because Yumi literally kicks his butt and he likes the fight.”

“Shut the hell up.” She slapped him again.

He grabbed her arm. “Do that again and I’ll break your arm off. And this time Jack may not save you.”

“Save her from what?” Yumi appeared behind them. “Monty, get off her.”

Monty sneered and winked at Fi before letting her go. “Nothing—we were just . . . catching up.”

Fi felt all the blood drain from her face. “We . . .” She couldn’t risk her friend finding out about either of her relationships.

“Monty, you need to stop stalking her before you force me to cut your eyes out.” Yumi seized his shirt.

“You and what army?” Monty broke free. “Fi is—”

Yumi struck him in the face with her fist before he could finish his statement.

He groaned and staggered back, almost falling over.

“Mouth off to me again, and I
will
kill you.” Yumi seized Fi and dragged her away.

“Where are we going?” Fi noticed the two girls were heading in the direction of the cellar. “What did you decide?”

“They’re going to kill the boys and I think it’s the wrong thing to do,” Yumi fumed.

“No—Jack will change his mind?”

“He doesn’t want to. Even if he did, the other guys feel the same.”

“So? Talk to them again!” Fi pleaded. “Make them understand. Tell Jack you’re going to kill yourself if he doesn’t listen.”

“Do what?” Yumi turned to her with a puzzled look. “Jack knows I’d never kill myself and those people don’t want to be reasoned with.”

“And you agreed?”

Yumi didn’t answer.

“You did. Why? Are you thick? We can’t murder Steven, or the other guy.”

“It was that or let them have access to you,” Yumi muttered.

“What is that supposed to mean? I’m not a slut like the other girls, that’s the reason I’m not sleeping with like, eight guys a week.”

“The reason none of the boys have decided to sleep with you
anyway
is because I told them I’d kill them—and I’ve made myself available, instead.”

“What are you saying?” Fi couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Fi.” Yumi squeezed her eyes shut. “You’re not like me, or most of the people here. You’re really innocent. I—I couldn’t let any of them take advantage of that. There was no way you could take turns, like the rest of us. It was never going to happen.”

“Turns? Is that why you’re with Jack? To protect me? Please, don’t tell me you have been doing other guys to . . .” Fi couldn’t finish the statement. “Why didn’t I know about this? There are nine other girls here—I would’ve heard something.”

“We all swore we’d never talk about it to each other. We’d just go on, as if it wasn’t happening.”

“And they all know I’m not anyone’s turn and they just leave me be?”

“We don’t talk about it. I just know it happens and I know when it’s my turn.”

“And Jack lets this happen to you? You’re his girlfriend!”

“Who do you think came up with damn plan? That’s why Greg had to go. No way in hell Greg would’ve ever done this.” Yumi sighed.

“So what do we do?”

“The circle told me to tell the prisoners. They figured it would be better coming from a girl.”

“But you’re going to do something to stop this, right?”

“What can I do? I’m just one person.” Yumi ran her fingers through her hair.

“You’ve got me too.”

Yumi shrugged, obviously underwhelmed by Fi’s show of support.

“We can help them escape. They’ll lead us to their people,” Fi suggested. “If we leave the girls behind and let the guys go. No one will miss us if there are two more girls.”

“Don’t talk like that here. I agree we have to let them all go, but we can’t let anyone hear this.” Yumi checked the empty hallway.

“Their people aren’t far away. Steven said there were at least forty people in their camp and they’ve plenty of food, water, and even medical supplies. They’ve even got a proper farm and they’re heavily armed, so there’s no way Jack could come for us.”

“So their people can take down ours?”

“Easily. Steven said they’ve got loads of weapons too. All we’ve got to do is find a way to get them out.”

“They’re armed?” Yumi shook her head. Changing direction, she headed back to the dining room.

“What is it?”

“We can’t let them go now.”

“No, you said—we had to let them go!”

“Yes, but I didn’t know that their group could come back here and annihilate us.”

“But they won’t.”

“Fi, they could. The group could come here and kill everyone who’s left.” Yumi marched back toward the dining room. “I need to tell Jack. This changes everything.”

“Wait, Yumi. What do you think Jack will do when he learns this?” Fi demanded as they reached the doors of the dining room.

“I don’t know. He’ll probably kill them all.” Running her hands over her face, she tugged at her short hair. “Dammit, Fi.” Yumi kicked the wall. “What do we do now?”

“Let them go?”

Yumi’s shoulders sank and she leaned against the door. “I’ll figure something out.”

“You’ll let me know?”

She frowned. “Fi, I’m not sure you want to know.”

“I do because I’m going with them,” Fi revealed.

“No, you’re not. Best case, they make it out of the cellar and then have to face the biters, unarmed until they find their friends. Worst case, they get stopped and killed. Do you want to face any of that?”

“I’m going with them because it’s better than taking turns.”

“I promise . . .” She rested her hands on Fi’s shoulders. “That’s never going to happen to you. And if I could go with Steven I would, but I can’t. It’s killing me to let him go.”

“Steven?”

Yumi pretended to smile and shook her head. “I know it’s stupid, but Steven and I kind of hit it off.”

“Steven? Are you sure?” The world around her started spinning. “You slept with him?”

Yumi shook her head. “If I did, Jack would’ve killed him, but I wanted to.”

“Why would you do that to Jack? I thought you loved him?”

“I never loved Jack.”

“And you
think
you love this other guy?” Forcefully, Fi leveled out her voice.

“No way; I know he’s trying to play me to help him. And maybe it’s working, but after what happened to Greg, I’m not going to let anything else like that happen again.”

Steven played me!
Trembling, Fi covered her lips. “I—?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Yumi noticed Fi’s shock. “I won’t do anything foolish enough to get caught. Just go back to your room and wait.”

Fi was numb by the time she reached her room. She didn’t know what to believe. Maybe she’d misunderstood Yumi, or Yumi misunderstood the situation. Perhaps Yumi was messing with her, because she’d learned Jack was really in love with her.

After pacing in her room for a few hours, Fi decided she needed to see Steven and confront him. She knew she should wait a while before going back down to see him, but she would risk it, or she might lose her mind. Also, this might be the last chance she’d have to see him before he was killed or he escaped. She crept through the dark castle, with only a candle as a light.

“Hey.” Jack appeared in front of her, taking the candle from her hand. “What are you doing out?”

“You startled me.”

“You okay? You’re bright red.” He cupped her face.

She fought back tears. “I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. What’s wrong, pretty girl?”

“Nothing.” Hot tears poured down her cheeks. “I needed some air.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing, Fi. What’s wrong?”

“Yumi, she—”

“I know you’re tired of this Yumi mess.” He kissed her nose. “I finally told her it’s over. I want to be with you.”

Stunned by this news, she stepped back. “Jack, don’t mess with me.” This wasn’t what she expected him to say, not with two innocent boys facing an execution just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I’m confused. I thought you’d be happy about this.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to feel. You’ve told me that the only reason you were even with Yumi was because she was suicidal. Yumi isn’t, is she? Plus, I heard the other girls are all taking turns, even Yumi, and she struck a deal with the others, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“There are only thirty-three people here, so I was bound to find out eventually.”

“I heard rumors you were hooking up with Steven, but I don’t believe those.” His cold eyes glistened in the candlelight. “In fact, when Monty told me I almost broke his arm, but you hear rumors about me and you immediately believe them?”

“Really?” A flush of heat consumed her. Something about his possessiveness and protective nature always excited her.

“Even if it’s true, I couldn’t blame you. It wasn’t like I was there for you with Yumi being around so much.” Stepping closer, he put his face to her neck while he clutched her waist. “Now, I’m all yours.”

“Jack . . .” Fi was trying to make a point, but she forgot what that was. All she knew was how right this moment felt.

“You’re a good person, Fi, and I’m sorry I never treated you like you were. I was so caught up in trying to protect you that I didn’t see how much I was hurting you.” His lips found hers.

“Tell me the truth about the turns.”

“The truth is I’ll never let anyone touch you, because I love you.”

Whatever fleeting fancy she felt over Steven evaporated while Jack finally gave her the assurance she’d needed to hear for years. He was hers.