Sweet Reckoning
Page 12

“We need to meet so you can take me to them,” she said. “This has to stop.”
“You’re here? I don’t think this is a good—”
“Just meet me.” She sounded desperate.
We met in front of the superstore in Cartersville. We both stepped out of our cars into the humidity, searching the skies and crossing our arms.
“Take me to her,” Ginger demanded.
I hesitated.
“I think Marna needs to get this out of her system,” I told her. “I’m worried that the more you try to stop her, the more she’ll cling to him.”
She appeared to be barely containing her anger. “I swear, Anna. I’ll chain her up if I have to, but she is not staying another night with him. I won’t let her endanger herself for some stupid human boy.”
I took a deep breath. These were touchy circumstances. If whisperers caught Marna hooking up with a boy, just for fun and not for the purpose of making him cheat, her father would have her killed. Worse yet, the Dukes would probably make a spectacle of her death as a lesson to the other Neph about the importance of working.
“If I take you to her, will you promise to try and stay calm?”
Ginger gave me a tight smile. “I’ll be calm.”
I so did not believe that, but while I couldn’t tell her how to deal with her sister, I could tell her how to deal with my best friend.
“I can’t have you yelling at Jay. He doesn’t understand.”
“Fine.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
I took us to Jay’s house and texted him from the gravel driveway to let him know we were there. I didn’t want to walk in on anything.
Ginger followed me in, wearing a face of stone.
Jay opened his bedroom door as we came down the hall. He wore jeans and was pulling a shirt over his head. I opened my senses to feel the anxious confusion in his gray aura.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking back and forth between us.
“It’s hard to explain, Jay,” I said.
His guardian angel stood close, protective as ever.
Ginger never stopped moving, so Jay stepped out of her way and we all went into his room. Marna sat on the bed with one of Jay’s pillows on her lap. Something about her seemed . . . off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I searched the room, wondering where the strange vibe was coming from.
Jay walked over and stood next to Marna, who gave her sister a defiant stare as Ginger’s sharp eyes went from Marna to Jay, and back to Marna.
Oh man. She did not look happy. The twins could sense romantic bonds between people—everything from attraction to love and marriage. Was that what was happening to me? I’d never sensed bonds between people before, but I couldn’t place the awareness I was experiencing.
“I’m sorry,” Jay said. “But I don’t see what the big deal is. We’re both adults. We’re just . . . hanging out.”
“Just hanging out?” Ginger asked sweetly. “Not falling in love?”
My heart kicked with surprise. Was that what she saw between them? But . . . he’d just been in a relationship with Veronica! I felt light-headed. This was so like Jay to let his heart be snatched up by another so quickly.
I watched Jay and Marna exchange a tender glance, and sure enough a fluff of pink floated up around Jay. Then he looked at me and his eyes dropped to the floor, a wave of gray guilt covering over the pink.
“It’s time to go,” Ginger said in her don’t-mess-with-me voice.
Marna lifted her chin. “I’m not leaving, Gin. I’ll take the red-eye to New York and be back in time for our flight.”
“Don’t do this,” Ginger warned.
Jay looked at her like she was crazy. Marna flung the pillow aside and stood face-to-face with her sister. I rocked back on my heels and gasped, slapping a hand over my mouth. My body reacted—heart pounding, limbs shaking, a chill of disbelief zipping down my spine.
“Anna?” Jay came over and grabbed my arm.
“What?” Marna asked. “What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?”
She brushed a hand down her flat stomach, where my eyes had locked.
God, please. Don’t let this be happening.
The faintest recognition of buttery light pulsed from her abdomen.
I felt like I might hyperventilate as the reality of the situation crashed over me. Marna would be gone within the year. Dead. Because she was pregnant.
“You guys . . . had sex.”
It was a rude comment under any circumstances, and I couldn’t believe it was the first thing to leave my mouth. But I had to know if it was Jay’s. If it wasn’t, he didn’t need to be a part of this.
“Dude.” Jay’s cheeks reddened.
They’d definitely had sex.
Marna and Ginger converged on me, pushing Jay back, searching my face for answers.
“What is it?” Ginger asked.
“Yeah, you’re freaking me out.” Marna crossed her arms, and I forced myself to stop staring. When I looked up, I could feel the wetness of tears on my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
I was scared to say it. Scared to put the words out there and make it real. A sob rose up in my chest and I covered my mouth again. Sweet Marna.
“Anna.” Jay squeezed in and whispered to me, “Don’t cry. We didn’t plan for this. I know it’s fast, and . . . I know Veronica’s going to be hurt—”